Nancy Best Bates Wake Forest Nancy Best Bates, age 74, of Wake Forest died Monday, October 29, 2018, at Transitions LifeCare Hospice Home in Raleigh. Her death resulted from a six-month battle against a recurrence of breast cancer. Born on November 17, 1943 in Summit, New Jersey, as Nancy Jane Best, Nancy was the eldest daughter of Frederick Sherman Best and Lois Phelps Gardner. Her childhood was spent in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. She was a graduate of Governor Livingston Regional High School, Class of 1961. Nancy became a registered nurse upon her graduation from Somerset Hospital School of Nursing in Somerville, New Jersey, Class of 1964. Shortly after her graduation, Nancy moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she met and married Donald Duane Bates on January 8, 1966. They were happily together for 43 years. During her almost twenty years as a resident in the Baltimore, Maryland area, Nancy was