Dr. Nancy Boardman

Dr. Nancy Naff Boardman, 67, departed this life on Monday, July 28, 2014, at NHC Healthcare in Athens. Born in Athens, Nancy spent her early years in several towns and cities of Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee, where her father, George Naff, served many churches in the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. First and foremost a devoted mother to her four sons, Nancy was also a dedicated and accomplished educator. She received her undergraduate degree from East Tennessee State University, and both her master's and Ed.D. from the Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. During her educational career she was a classroom teacher, a curriculum supervisor, a principal, a superintendent, and a college professor. She prepared many area teachers for their profession while a professor at both Tennessee Wesleyan and Tusculum Colleges, and she was an innovative and beloved principal at South Pittsburg's highly-regarded Richard Hardy Memorial School. Nancy was named Business and Professional Woman of the Year by the Athens Chamber of Commerce in 1988. One of her greatest joys was singing in a trio with sister Ellen Kimball and friend Pam Thigpen, accompanied on piano by her mother, Mary Ellen Naff. Nancy is survived by her children, Paul Boardman and wife, Lawton of Los Angeles; Jason Boardman of Knoxville; Ben Boardman and wife, Jennifer of Fayetteville, N.C.; Jordan Boardman of Knoxville; brother George E. Naff III and wife, Sue of Boone, N.C.; sister, Ellen Kimball; husband, Art of Athens; and six grandchildren. A funeral service and committal of ashes will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Athens at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3, followed by receiving of friends in the parish hall. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to St. Paul's Episcopal Church Music Fund, 123 S. Jackson St., Athens, TN 37303, or to the Athens Area Council for the Arts, P.O. Box 95, Athens, TN 37371-0095. Jerry Smith Funeral & Cremation Services, Athens, was honored to have served the Boardman family.