Mary New Nelson

Mary New Nelson, 90, formerly of Pampa, died Wednesday, April 15, 2015 in Winnsboro. Services will be at 2:00 PM Saturday, April 25, 2015, in Carmichael-Whatley Colonial Chapel in Pampa with Mike Sublett, minister of Hi-Land Christian Church in Pampa, officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery in Pampa under the direction of Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors. Following the graveside service, a reception will be held in the parlor of First Presbyterian Church. Mom was born on February 18, 1925 in Muskogee OK, the youngest of four children and the only daughter of Amy Wilson and Earl New. Her family moved to Skellytown around 1930. She grew up during the Great Depression and would tell us stories of how they lived. She and her brothers would get one pair of used shoes for Christmas and wrap their old shoes in butcher paper and give them to the “poor family” down the road in Skellytown. They had family outings to the gullies and sandy creek bottoms to pick berries for making jam, and an occasional trip with her dad to “borrow” a little drip gas found in exposed oil pipe in low areas where the pipe dripped, for the family Model T. She and her family eventually settled in Pampa where she lived the majority of her life. At 85 years old, Mom surprised us all when she left Pampa and moved to The Woodlands to spend her last years closer to Ann and me and her grandchildren. My sister and I thought she would never leave all she had ever known for a new life. She attended Texas Tech University where she earned a Master’s degree in Education, with a major in nutrition, and a minor in chemistry. Her 28-year teaching career began at Pampa High School followed by teaching science at Grandview Hopkins and Robert E. Lee Junior High in Pampa, where she spent the majority of her teaching years. She finished her teaching career at Lamar Elementary School in Pampa. My sister Ann remembers all the animals she had in her class for teaching, and I remember all the snakes, spiders, frogs, turtles, and horned toads she brought home to me. She created the first outdoor science lab in the spaces between the buildings at Robert E. Lee, and had one class bury a time capsule. Mom married Paul D. Keim on August 14, 1948 and had two children, myself, Frank Daniel Keim, and my sister, Elizabeth Ann Keim (now Findley). She later married V. G. “Red” Nelson on Sept. 9, 1977 and had a wonderfully happy relationship until Red’s death in 1984. She led a very active social life but never remarried. She was an avid sports fan and loved the St. Louis Cardinals which we will forgive her for. Mary also loved college sports and supported Texas Tech all of her life even to the point of flying with the girls basketball team occasionally. She volunteered for the Top O’ Texas Golf Tournament at Pampa Country Club for many years. Mom was a very spiritual woman who backed up her faith with countless acts of service during her life. She was involved with Meals on Wheels in Pampa, mission work at First Presbyterian Church in Pampa, and the after school program, Create a Beat!, at Hi-Land Christian Church in Pampa. She was an active member of Pampa Altrusa Club and Twentieth Century Study Club. Ann always called her Mother, and I always called her Mom, but we both agree we have never known a more gracious lady. She was right at home hunting or branding cattle with Red as she was on a ballroom dance floor. She always made everyone she met the most important person in the room and never made an enemy in her life. She celebrated her 90th birthday with over 30 family members from 12 cities and 4 states, some of us not seeing each other in over 30 years. She truly enjoyed her life to the fullest. Please come and join us for the celebration of her life. She is survived by her son, Dan Keim and wife Audrey; her daughter, Ann Findley and husband Chuck; her brother Paul New and wife Grace; her step- daughters, Susan Nelson and Cathy Thompson; five grandchildren, Brian Findley, Michael Findley, Mary McKenzie Keim, McLendon Daniel Keim, and Jackson Miles Keim; two step grandchildren, Rob Findley and Les Findley; her great grandchildren, Alexus Findley, Kelly Findley, Christopher Findley, Brianna Findley, and Peyton Findley, and her great great grandchild, Nijah Braxton. Mary was preceded in death by her parents and by two brothers, Earl New and Joe New. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Create a Beat!, P.O. Box 1565, Pampa, TX 79065. The family will receive friends from 6:00-7:30 Friday at the funeral home.