Nancy Kinder Henson Ramer, 99, of Memphis, formerly of West Memphis, died on Friday, May 30, 2003 at Senior Services Nursing Home in Memphis.

A member of the Missouri Street Church of Christ, she was a retired child care worker for the West Memphis Christian Nursery School. In 1904, Nancy Jane Kinder was born in a log cabin built by her grandfather in Imboden, Ark. She was an extraordinary woman whose life embodied the old American pioneer spirit that helped build and develop our great nation. During her long life, Nancy has forded rivers in a wagon, helped clear farm land, worked in the Arkansas cotton fields, sharecropped, homesteaded, lived through the great depression, the Arkansas flood of 1937 and raised seven children.

She was one of the first settlers at Dyess Colony in Arkansas and met Eleanor Roosevelt in 1936. Nancy was a gifted storyteller who loved to laugh and talk about the old days. A remarkable memory allowed her to recall detailed stories and the birthdates of most of her ancestors.

She married Hershal Henson in 1922 and they had seven children. After Hershal died in 1956, she picked cotton, worked at the Dyess school cafeteria and later ran a day care in Memphis. Nancy married John Wesley Ramer of Dyess in 1971. They shared the same birthday and birthyear, February 22, 1904. He died in 1998. Nancy was a devoted mother, a good role model, active member of the church and a good Christian friend.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Nancy Ellen Rock and Andy Brown Kinder, and sons Howard, Floyd and Coy Henson.

Survivors include three sons, Everett Henson of Memphis, AJ Henson and Robert Henson, both of Bartlett, Tenn.; two step sons, John W. Ramer of Marion and Tommy Ramer of West Memphis; one daughter, Freed Barnes of Jonesboro; one step daughter, Ruth Tate of Shreveport, La.; 18 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; and 15 great-great-grandchildren.

Services were held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 1, 2003 at the Missouri Street Church of Christ in West Memphis with Bro. Bill Wheeler officiating. Burial followed at Bassett Cemetery in Bassett, Ark. with Stanley Jones, Everett Henson Jr., Larry Henson, Harold Henson, Norman Henson, David Gray, Aaron Henson and Wes Henson serving as pallbearers. Mark Wimpy, Perry Wimpy, Paul Zimmer and Paul Houston served as honorary pallbearers.

Visitation was held. Roller Citizens Funeral Home in West Memphis had charge of the arrangements. Memorials may be made to Children's Home, Inc. 5515 Old Walcot Road, Paragould, Ark. 72450.