After a 13-year battle with Alzheimer's disease, Nancy McBride Gebhardt, of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina passed away on April 10, 2020 of suspected COVID-19 disease. She was born in St. Marys Ohio on May 12, 1934 and graduated from Denison University in Ohio. While working with the Girl Scouts of America and volunteering with the Civil Rights Movement in Charleston, South Carolina, she met a young US Naval Officer, Carl Edward Gebhardt, and they were married on March 15, 1958.
After her husband left the Navy, they became some of the early residents on Hilton Head Island in the 1960's before embarking upon a life of international travel and adventure while they both worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Nancy lived with her husband and children in Mexico, Poland, Thailand, Indonesia, and the former Soviet Union, before retiring from U.S. government service in 1993 and settling back permanently on Hilton Head Island, where she was an active community member and a passionate volunteer with the Lifelong Learning continuing education program.
Nancy is survived by her husband Carl, of Hilton Head Island. She is predeceased by her daughter, Leslie Searles Gebhardt, and is survived by her daughter, Karen Gebhardt Morgan of Ponte Vedra, Florida; her son, Glenn Gordon Gebhardt, of Centreville, Virginia; her son, Gregory Roos Gebhardt of Reston, Virginia; her five grandchildren; and her brother, James McBride, of Seattle, Washington. She was survived briefly by her sister, Cynthia McBride Swanson, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, who passed away on April 19, 2020.
Nancy requested to be cremated. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. For those who wish to remember Nancy, in lieu of flowers please consider memorial donations to a charity promoting Alzheimer's disease research or supporting those affected by Alzheimer's.
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