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Nancy & George Stallings
Camille Anding
It’s typical in the small towns of
the delta for everyone to know their
neighbors and their neighbors’ friends.
Families grow up together and even go
on vacations together. At least that’s
the way it was for the Carithers and
the Stallings growing up in Leland,
Mississippi. As many as five families
would vacation together.
Nancy Carithers and George
Stallings grew up going to the same
Leland school with just one grade
separating them. So, going on family
vacations together was like going with
friends and schoolmates.
It was the husbands of those families
who most often chose the vacation
locations. Since the men enjoyed
hunting and fishing, those locations
were always on the water or somewhere
near recommended hunting sights.
Nancy and George will always remember
one memorable vacation spot –
Kentucky Lake. Nancy and a family
friend set out on a walking tour of the
water’s edge and soon found
themselves in a snake-infested area.
“I heard their screams,” George
said, remembering the day he became
Nancy’s hero. He rushed to their aid
and carried them to safety, one at a
time, on his back. He was fifteen and
Nancy was fourteen, but in Nancy’s
eyes, his heroic gesture turned that
neighborhood friend into her beau.
It was on Grenada Lake on another
family vacation when George asked
Nancy to go with him to a movie in
Grenada. She was sixteen, and George
was seventeen. They would agree that
love began to blossom in the Temple
Theater!
The young couple talked of future
plans as their relationship continued
to grow. George decided he wanted to
be a doctor, so Nancy thought nursing
would be the most logical choice for
her future occupation. George
enrolled at Mississippi State and began
the pre-med courses while Nancy
finished her senior year in high school.
Nancy had to change her career
plans when she learned that State
didn’t offer a nursing degree. Instead
of choosing a college that did, Nancy
chose being close to George and
changed her major to elementary
education.
During George’s junior year and
Nancy’s sophomore year, they were
married on June 1, 1969, at First Baptist
Church in Leland. A large crowd
attended the wedding and watched as
the newlyweds drove away to Dauphin
Island on the Gulf Coast – just weeks
before Hurricane Camille would
wreak havoc on the entire area.
They returned to college as a
married couple and moved into
University Village. George was an
alternate on the medical school list
and continued his studies in hopes
someone would drop out of the list of
med students, allowing him acceptance
into the school. His dreams of
becoming a doctor appeared to vanish
when the list never changed. However
his military draft status went to 1A
during the height of the Vietnam War.
When Nancy’s pregnancy test read
positive, George joined the National
Guard. Nancy did not want to birth
and raise their first child alone.
8 • NOVEMBER 2023