Life Stories
Nancy Elizabeth Liddell
Nancy Elizabeth Liddell née Armitage (1983 BA English Language and Literature) died on 21 March 2026 aged 61.
Nancy was born in Leeds, the only child of Percy, a nurseryman and Jeanne, a health visitor. She was the first of her family to go to university and the first from her school to go to Oxford. Proud of her Yorkshire roots she chose Keble largely for its reputation for taking students from northern grammar schools. Nancy took an active part in university and college life gaining a half-blue for swimming and also rowing for the women’s first torpid (whilst hiding from the captain of boats that she was suffering from glandular fever).
At the 1984 Summer VIIIs
After leaving Keble she embarked on a career in chartered accountancy before abandoning the corporate world to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a nurse, training at St James Hospital (Jimmy’s) in Leeds.
Nancy married Graham (a Keble chemist) in 1988 and seven years later left nursing to raise her two daughters: Becky born in 1995 and Carrie born in 1997. The family moved south in 2001 where Nancy continued to take responsibility for the bulk of childcare duties and passed on her love of literature to both Becky and Carrie. She also took up a range of volunteer roles before returning to paid employment in 2014 with Carers Support West Sussex, a charity working with and for family and friend carers.
Nancy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 during the height of the Covid pandemic. Despite initially successful surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, her cancer returned in 2024. Nancy continued to be as active as her illness and treatment would allow including swimming with the local triathlon club where she won the Joe Pascoe award for demonstrating exceptional determination and courage in the face of adversity. She became increasingly unwell in early 2026 and died at Worthing Hospital on 21 March with her family at her bedside.
Nancy was caring, supportive, funny, brave and loyal. She had a gift for forging bonds that lasted decades and kept in regular contact with her Keble and other friends across the UK and all around the world. She kept daily diaries from the age of 18 (we’ve been told not to read any of them). She took great delight in small pleasures: a colourful insect, an unusual cloud formation, a piece of driftwood. She is ever so sadly missed.
Kindly provided by her husband Graham Liddell (1983 BA Chemistry)