Obituary for Nancy Marsh Mustin

Nancy Marsh Mustin, age 94, of The Coventry, St. Joseph of the Pines, in Southern Pines, NC died Friday, March 11, 2022 at the FirstHealth Hospice House in Pinehurst.

Nancy was born on November 15, 1928 to the late Paul R. Marsh and Helen B. Marsh of Washington, D.C. and Catlett, VA. After elementary education, she attended Alice Deal Junior High School and was a member of its horse show team. In the 1940s, the family moved permanently to Catlett, after which Mrs. Mustin attended the Calvert School in Warrenton, VA. She graduated from Warrenton High School in 1946. She was then accepted at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA as a physics major. In the midst of her senior year, a fall from a horse at a show in Blacksburg resulted in badly broken bones which ended her college days.

From age 10, Mrs. Mustin was an accomplished horse woman, winning numerous prizes in horse shows in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. She was also a member of the Casanova Hunt Club in Fauquier County, VA. After college, her first job was as a cartographer with the Army Map Service in Montgomery County, MD and Ft. Worth TX. During her time in the Washington area, she had an unusual part-time job singing with her guitar during the pianist’s break, in the cocktail lounge of The Old Angler’s Inn also in Montgomery County, MD.

In the mid-1950s, she exercised racehorses at Belmont Park and Camden, SC for the New York based stable of Thomas M. Waller. She suffered a very serious injury in a spill with a horse (which had been shipped to Monmouth Park, NJ for a special stakes race, The United Nations Handicap) which ended her career at the race track. After numerous surgeries to prevent the amputation of her right leg, she returned to working with horses by managing the horse farm of James P. McCormick in Middleburg, VA. Losing her nerve when schooling a timber horse over fences, she resigned, returned to Washington and did not ride again. She was then employed by GEICO.

On July 19, 1958 she was married to the late Henry Ashmead Mustin, a Washington, D.C. journalist and radio newscaster. During World War II, Mr. Mustin, joined the Navy and was stationed in the South Pacific. Early in their marriage she and Mr. Mustin made their home in Alexandria, VA, later moving to Bethesda, MD where they lived for 17 years prior to his retirement. In 1962, they built a beach house in Sussex Shores, Bethany Beach, DE.

After working many years in the automobile underwriting department of GEICO, Mrs. Mustin was promoted and given a title of “efficiency expert” which included an “executive” rating (the first for a female) along with a coveted space in its’ executive tower! She later applied for, and was selected, to train new employees who would staff GEICO’s first regional office. This took place on Long Island, NY and the new office was created to serve policyholders in PA, NJ, NY, and the Northeastern part of the country. She did the same thing in Macon, GA to start a regional office which would serve the Southeastern part of the country.

At retirement in 1975, they took up residence on South Ocean Lane in Ft. Lauderdale, FL when their primary interests were boating, tennis, and fishing for him; backgammon and the beach for her. They divided their time between Ft. Lauderdale and Bethany Beach, DE. In 1985 their interests turned to golf, so they moved to, and joined the Bent Pine Golf Club in Vero Beach, FL. They also belonged to the Rehoboth Beach Yacht and Country Club in Rehoboth Beach, DE. In Bethany Beach, they were members of the Bethany Club Tennis where later Mrs. Mustin was offered and accepted the job as manager. She first added a “social” membership for bridge players. The tennis membership primarily consisted of residents from the Baltimore- Washington area. Her two employees “Sandy” Brown and “Terry” Swindell, were college kids from Baltimore and whose parents were members of the club. After Mrs. Mustin contacted the Har-Tru Company which makes the clay for these types of tennis courts, the three learned how to keep their eight “clay” courts in perfect condition. This helped her to increase the memberships fourfold!

Mrs. Mustin was preceded in death by a sister, Elizabeth Poyser (H. Edward Poyser) of Pinehurst, and a brother, Paul R. Marsh, Jr. of Eureka, MT. She is survived by a niece, Georgia Tennant of Hot Springs, VA, a nephew, Todd Marsh (Mary Sue) of Catlett, VA, a great niece Reese Ann Marsh, two great nephews, Robert E. and Bryan E. Tennant of Millsboro, VA, a special friend Beverly Deal of Sanford, NC, and finally, her beloved Ragdoll cat, Panda Bear (Pandy) currently residing with The Deal family in Sanford.

In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations to, or adopt from, Moore Humane Society, PO Box 203, Southern Pines, NC 28388.

Online condolences may be made to www.bolesfuneralhome.com . Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email