Nancy A. Markell Crouthamel

Nancy A. Markell Crouthamel, age 93 of Painesville Twp., formerly of Grandville Summit, PA, passed away September 7th, 2026 at home with her family by her side. She was born July 11th, 1933 in Willoughby, OH to the late Nelson and Coila Grover.

The Lord saved Nancy as a child when she recognized her sin and trusted Christ with the help of her Sunday school teacher. Nancy was a lover of God and a lover of people. The love of Christ flowed so freely through her that it touched virtually every person she encountered. Her life was marked by selflessness, compassion, faithfulness, and an extraordinary ability to see the needs and hurts of others and step in to help quietly or not so quietly with fun and laughter. 

Nancy learned at a very young age what it meant to care for others. After losing her mother when she was only nine years old, Nancy took on the care of her home and her two-year-old sister, Sara while her older sister Mary (13) cared for their ailing grandmother and their twin brothers, Nelson and Sheldon (17) went off to serve their country during World War II. 

At thirteen, Nancy again found herself caring for others when her young stepmother Dorothy, experienced complications following the birth of her daughter Louise. During the school year, Nancy took off eight weeks of school to care for her very ill stepmother, her now six-year-old sister, and the newborn baby. These experiences honed a gift for caregiving that would become one of the defining characteristics of her life. 

Although Nancy was bright and could have pursued many opportunities, she chose at sixteen to leave school after the tenth grade and take a job at Ohio Rubber so that she could help support her growing family which now included sibling Bob, and later Rick and Bev. 

Sacrificing herself for the sake of others became a theme that would follow her throughout her entire life.

While working at Ohio Rubber, Nancy met the love of her life, Larry Markell, who had returned home after serving in the Philippines during World War II. They waited until Nancy turned eighteen to marry. Together, Nancy and Larry fought for custody of her little sister Sara, who was eleven at the time, and they welcomed her into their home while beginning their own family. 

As the years passed, Nancy developed a remarkable ability to see beneath the surface of people-to recognize the deep and often hidden pain in others, especially children. She encouraged, mentored, comforted, and loved countless young people and women, many of whom became lifelong friends.

Nancy’s hobby was people. She simply loved loving them.

She cherished her family and also her church family. She gathered people into her heart so completely that many of her friends were called “aunt” by her children and were loved as family. At times, it was difficult for the younger members of her extended family to know who was actually related by blood and who had simply been adopted into Nancy’s heart. 

Her service to the Lord was joyful. In Ohio, she served as a Sunday school teacher, Vacation Bible School teacher and director, camp counselor, camp cook and head camp cook, youth group leader, and member of the Christian Education Committee. Unofficially, Nancy was continually organizing food, finding ways to help, and noticing people who needed encouragement or care. Nancy also organized large volumes of missionary supplies for both her sister Mary in Liberia, Africa and for her daughter, Faith in Mexico City, Mexico.

She used her gift of tenderness to care for both her beloved sister Louise and her close friend Tony Suydam while they both faced cancer. 

After thirty-six years of marriage, Nancy experienced the devastating loss of her beloved husband, Larry. She was widowed for eight years before God brought Bob into her life–the second great love of her life. They met at her son’s church in Pennsylvania and shared twenty-six wonderful years together. 

Nancy and Bob served in their church’s Awana program and participated in its annual Christmas children’s event, dressing up as people from Bible times. They served in many other capacities as well, and not surprising to her family, she found wonderful friends again in Pennsylvania and loved them deeply.

Nancy loved her grandchildren dearly, but she cherished her children. She worked several full-time jobs, including Bailey Meter, Harbedon, and in caregiving both privately and at Heartland of Mentor. She worked hard to provide her children with a Christian education and help put them through college. She gave of herself again and again so that those she loved could have opportunities she herself had sacrificed to provide.

Everyone who knew Nancy seems to carry a story about her –sometimes crazy and funny. So many have spoken of the profound impact that she had on their lives. She had a way of making people feel seen, loved, welcomed, and important. 

In 2022, Bob moved with Nancy back to Ohio to live with her daughter due to illness. Later that year, Bob passed away. In 2023, Nancy suffered four strokes that left her completely bedbound. Yet even through such limitations, God was not finished with her yet.

After isolation during COVID and a period in which she had declined to speaking only one or two words at a time, Nancy eventually regained her full gift of conversation. Her family was happy to see the Nancy they knew and loved return–ready to talk.

Rather than becoming bitter over the circumstances, Nancy chose to use this new season to enjoy the people around her including family and caregivers. 

And she read. Nancy read more than seventy-five books of all genres just in her final year alone. When asked what her favorite book was, she answered simply,

“The Bible”

When asked what she found most amazing, her answer revealed the heart of her entire life.

“That God loves me.”

Several of the young people Nancy had influenced throughout the years came back to visit her, giving her the joy of seeing them again. Her youngest granddaughter, Cara, had the special privilege of having Grandma Nancy as her first patient as a student nurse. One day Cara asked her,”Grandma, what do you think the Lord is teaching you in this stage of your life?”

Nancy answered, “To REST in Him”.

Those words beautifully showed that she was not depending on herself and that she had been through the hardest of times and God had proven Himself faithful. 

One of Nancy’s favorite things in the last years was spending many evenings with Michael, her son-in-law singing hymns. Several nights each week from 9 pm until midnight, they would sing together–hymns both old and new including Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Come To Jesus, and Thank You Jesus For The Blood. Again and again, these hymns turned Nancy’s heart toward Christ, reminding her that Jesus was her only hope in life and death. And she loved to sing about her Savior.

Nancy spent her life giving herself away in love. She had known loss, sacrifice, illness, and limitation, but she never allowed suffering to have the final word. And now, after a lifetime of trusting Him, Nancy has finally entered the presence of the Savior she loved so deeply. And the woman whose greatest wonder was that “God Loves me” now knows, in fullness, the immeasurable depth of that love.    

Nancy was the loving wife of the late Lawrence Markell, and the late Robert Crouthamel; beloved mother of Ron (Bridgette) Markell, Jan (Jim) Dillaha, and Faith (Michael) Goldfuss, step daughter Sandra Nocella; dearest grandmother of Khara (Lance) Reiche, Naomi (Brandon) Segers, Nathan (Jennifer) Dillaha, Jesse (Leah) Dillaha, Andrew (Katherine) Dillaha, Emily (Clint) Miller, Lynn (Marilyn) McLaughlin, Riah (Aubrey) Irion, Amara (David) Garber, Hannah (Jon Hart) Markell, Benjamin (Madison) Markell, Ayla Markell, Michael “Mikey” (Mikaila) Goldfuss, Cristiana, Carissa, Matthew, Cherith, and Caralyn Goldfuss, great grandmother of Emet, Selah, Landon, Maddi, Wren, Gus, Ryder, Silas, Charlotte, Lucy, Elijah, Miah, Arya, Leland, Coralai, Edith, Lyra, Octavia, Declan, Maisie, Kyle, Matthew, Hazel, Kiah, and Mabel Rae; dear sister of Beverly (Jon) Tripp, and sister-in-law Joan Crouthamel ; aunt to many loving nieces and nephews.

Preceded in death by seven siblings: Nelson, Sheldon, Mary, Sara, Louise, Bob, and Rick Grover, sister-in-law Margie (Markell) Thompson, and granddaughter Crystalyn Goldfuss.
Loved as her own: Craig, Scott, and Chris Adie (Rader), and many countless others. She had a total of 18 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren.

The Markell Crouthamel family will receive family and friends from 9:30 – 10:30 AM Saturday, September 12^th, 2026 at Jeff Monreal Funeral Home, 1000 Mentor Ave., Painesville. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM Saturday at the funeral home. Burial to follow at Mentor Cemetery.