Nancee Kay Doyle passed away peacefully on December 12, 2025, surrounded by family after a lifelong battle with Crohn’s disease. Nancee was born to William and Annetta Lackey on May 19, 1947. A native of Grand Rapids, she graduated from East Grand Rapids High School and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, as well as an early childhood education endorsement from Grand Valley State University.
She found great purpose in education and spent her career nurturing young minds with patience, encouragement, and compassion. Beyond the classroom, she remained deeply involved in her children’s lives through her active participation in Girl Scouts and school activities. Even after her retirement, her passion for teaching continued as she tutored children, always eager to help them learn and succeed. In her personal life, she found joy in reading, gardening, and baking, and she had a special love for her rescued dogs. Some of her most treasured moments were spent sewing and baking with her grandchildren, creating memories that will be cherished forever.
She is survived by her husband, Mike; sons Dewey (Nancy) and John (Sarah); daughter Lindsey (Rick); and her beloved grandchildren Margaret, Elizabeth, Maximilian, Dominic, Zoey, and Lillian. She will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by all who knew her.
A service celebrating her life will be held in the spring, at a future date and location to be announced.
3 Responses
She was the best sister-in-law and friend and will be missed
Holidays with the Doyle family set the stage for years of Christmas nostalgia. Aunt Nancee will be dearly missed.
one of my favorite memories with grammy is whenever she would pick me up from ada vista elementary school and we would get mcdonalds at the old one in ada together, she would always ask for “two fries” and begrudgingly i would fork them over (haha) we would then go back to her house and hang out until my mom came and picked me up. my grammy was the most amazing lady ever. she showed me that you can be strong in the face of adversity (like that was my prompt for my AP lang midterm and i wrote it about her). she impacted my life the same way she impacted her students lives and she was so full of love and patience (lots of it). i still can’t believe that she passed but she’s with me all the time now in school and i know she would be so proud of me in my progress in swim. although she can’t help me write my college essay or see me walk at graduation i know she will always be there with me in spirit. rest easy grammy and just know i was the favorite grandkid and that i love you very much ❤️