NEED TO KNOW
- Nancy Veasy died in a car crash on July 25 after spending the day with her son and his newborn baby
- Her son, who was following behind with his family, got stuck in traffic shortly into the drive back — then he got a call from his sister saying there had been an accident
- “No words could say the amount that I love her and what I loved about her: It’s everything,” Japhet Veasy tells PEOPLE
After spending the day with her now-1-month-old grandson last month, Nancy Veasy, 76, left her son’s place to get back home in time to see a concert with her husband of 56 years. Her son, who was dropping off his son with his sister, followed behind.
“I said, ‘We’re right behind you,’ ” Japhet Veasy, 50, tells PEOPLE.
A short time later, after Japhet got stuck in traffic and fell behind, his sister called and told him she’d received an alert from their mom’s Apple watch saying she had either fallen or been in an accident.
He couldn’t believe it.
“I said, ‘No, she just left. She’s coming to your house. We’re on our way there,’’ ’ remembers Japhet, a merchandiser manager at Keurig Dr Pepper.
When his wife saw cars turning around, they kept going until they reached the scene of the crash.
At first, law enforcement wouldn’t allow him to approach the vehicle, but while FaceTiming his sister, he walked around and was able to look into the car. Inside, he saw his mom.
“That was devastating,” he says. “It broke me down. I couldn’t take it. I was hyperventilating. I really couldn’t breathe.”
His mother, he says, was his best friend. Their birthdays are two days apart and they always celebrated together. “No words could say the amount that I love her and what I loved about her: It’s everything,” he says. “I loved everything about her. Still do.”
After spending the day with her now-1-month-old grandson last month, Nancy Veasy, 76, left her son’s place to get back home in time to see a concert with her husband of 56 years. Her son, who was dropping off his son with his sister, followed behind.
“I said, ‘We’re right behind you,’ ” Japhet Veasy, 50, tells PEOPLE.
A short time later, after Japhet got stuck in traffic and fell behind, his sister called and told him she’d received an alert from their mom’s Apple watch saying she had either fallen or been in an accident.
He couldn’t believe it.
“I said, ‘No, she just left. She’s coming to your house. We’re on our way there,’’ ’ remembers Japhet, a merchandiser manager at Keurig Dr Pepper.
When his wife saw cars turning around, they kept going until they reached the scene of the crash.
At first, law enforcement wouldn’t allow him to approach the vehicle, but while FaceTiming his sister, he walked around and was able to look into the car. Inside, he saw his mom.
“That was devastating,” he says. “It broke me down. I couldn’t take it. I was hyperventilating. I really couldn’t breathe.”
His mother, he says, was his best friend. Their birthdays are two days apart and they always celebrated together. “No words could say the amount that I love her and what I loved about her: It’s everything,” he says. “I loved everything about her. Still do.”
Throughout her life, Nancy worked as an elementary school teacher’s assistant, a machinery mechanic at Miller Brewing Company and even an 18-wheel truck driver before retiring.
She also hand-sewed quilts for all three of her children as well as her eight grandchildren and her three great-grandbabies, who are identical triplets — and for the last 9 years, she volunteered in their church’s baby room, holding newborn babies every Sunday.
“She was a light,” says daughter Ameera Joe, a 55-year-old intersect director who does community outreach work for North Point Community Church.
The last time Joe saw her mom was hours before the crash on July 25 at her home in Milton, Ga.
For the past 12 years, her parents have lived with her and her husband, who built an in-law suite for them.
Before leaving to visit her newest grandson, baby Jaxon, her mom stuck her head into her office and said she was heading out.
As Nancy spent the day in Douglasville with her grandson, her son says “she held him the whole time” and “never put him down.”
Before leaving, Nancy offered to drive with the newborn, but Japhet says that he and his wife decided it would be best if they drove with their son, so that one person could drive while the other could focus on tending to the baby.
From what the family has been told, the person driving the car that hit Nancy was allegedly weaving in and out of traffic when they lost control of the vehicle, which then went airborne. The car crossed the median before hitting several cars, including Nancy’s. Another person in a separate car also died as a result of the crash.
In an update on Thursday, Aug. 14, a South Fulton Police Department spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE that warrants have been taken out in relation to the crash, but no arrest has been made and charges are pending against the driver, whose name has not yet been released.
Nancy’s daughter tells PEOPLE that when the family is “trying to trust the process,” but it’s hard.
“I’m struggling with the fact this person is not in jail and he just killed my mother,” she says. “So it’s a struggle, but I’m trying to find grace.”
As a testament to the impact Nancy made on her community, the family said they expected more than 200 people to attend her funeral — and sure enough, around 500 people showed up to pay their respects.
“My mom had a big heart,” says Nancy’s eldest daughter, Anita Wellington, 58, an accountant for the federal government who lives in Sumter, S.C.. “She was always giving, she was always trying to be there for everybody.”