WINDHAM, N.H. — Dorothy Christine (Hardy) Nease, 83, died peacefully on Tuesday, April 7, 2009, in Windham, N.H. Christine was born in Norfolk, Va., on Dec. 20, 1925, to Charles and Dorothy Hardy.
Christine attended Eastern Nazarene College (Boston) and the New England Conservatory of Music. At ENC she met her future husband, Stephen Wesley Nease, whom she married on June 17, 1946. She earned a certificate in reading education from Harvard University and a master’s degree in education from Central State University in Oklahoma.
The Neases moved to Mount Vernon in 1967 to found the Nazarene University.
In each place she lived, Christine served in the violin section of the Knox County Orchestra. She was sought after by churches for violin solos, and always reduced the congregation to tears with her rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
Christine and Stephen had six children, Linda Carol Nease Scott of Windham, N.H., Floyd William Nease II of Johnson, Vt., Stephen Wesley Nease Jr. of Lovettesville, Va., David Hardy, who died in 1970, Melissa Jo Wallace of Harrisburg, Pa., and David Wayne Nease of Montpelier, Vt. Her husband Stephen died in 2006.
A memorial service will take place at Lakeholm Church of the Nazarene (next to the campus of Mount Vernon Nazarene University) in Mount Vernon on April 25 at 2 p.m. followed by a private interment ceremony in St. John’s Cemetery next to her husband and son.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Stephen and Christine Nease Endowed Scholarship at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Martinsburg Road, Mount Vernon, OH 43050.
