HAVERHILL - Nancy J. (Hadley) Defeo of Haverhill passed away on December 3, 2024 at 82 years old after a long hard-fought battle with Alzheimer's disease. Born May 11, 1942, she lived most of her life in Massachusetts, residing for a short time in Arizona. She attended and graduated from Haverhill High School in 1960.

Daughter of the late Arthur and Rose (Tardiff) Hadley, Nancy is from a family of five siblings, all of whom stayed very loyal and close to one another - Peter (and wife Donna), Maryann Katsiane (and husband Richard), Daniel (and wife Patricia), James (and wife Eileen) and she was predeceased in 2017 by her younger sister, Sheila Allen. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews.

Nancy leaves behind her three children, James (and husband Anthony), Stephen (and wife Michelle) and Jodi (and long-time significant other Shawn Dennis). She spent the first half of her adult life as a devoted stay-at-home mother. She later worked many years for Lucent Technologies, climbing the corporate ladder.

Nancy was always active, and mostly enjoyed racketball. She was a very independent, strong, positive person, who loved traveling, playing games, reading and being social, never refusing a spontaneous event or dinner. Later in life, her passion became spending time with her three grandchildren, Peyton, Parker and Perl, all of Newburyport.

Per Nancy's request, a private service will be held.

Arrangements by Driscoll Funeral Home, Haverhill. For guestbook, visit www.driscollcares.com.