MARY NELL (GREESON) HARPER
1928-2017
Mary Nell (Greeson) Harper, beloved wife of William R. Harper, passed away peacefully on Friday, August 25, 2017. Born in Greensboro, NC on September 18, 1928, she was the daughter of the late Ferry Clapp Greeson and Lois (Smith) Greeson. Nell was a beautiful, vivacious, intelligent, loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and loyal friend. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her.
Nell was educated in Seaboard, NC public schools, attended Business School at the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina (now the University of North Carolina, Greensboro).
A stay-at-home mother until her son and daughter graduated from college, Nell attended the University of Houston and earned a Real Estate license in 1978. She was affiliated with Memorial Realty Company as a realtor for16 years, a top producer for most of those years, and a member of their Board of Directors.
Nell retired in 1994 to travel and see the world with her husband, Dick. And travel she did. She made 19 cruises, she walked on the Arctic Ocean (when it was frozen over), she dipped her toe in Cape Horn: she stood on the Great Wall of China; she crawled into the Great Pyramid at Giza; she sailed down the Yangtze River; she stood on top of the unfinished Three Gorges Dam; she patted a Tasmanian Devil on the head and she held a koala in her arms; she visited most of the states in the US and provinces in Canada including Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador; she loved Bar Harbor and she made many more trips too numerous to mention.
Nell was a loyal, dedicated Houston Astros fan and when she could no longer attend games in person, she never missed watching a game on television. Her cheers could be heard throughout the house.
Nell really loved flying in the back seat of a World War II AT-6 with Dick as pilot. She loved aerobatics (her favorite words were “Let’s do it again”) and she couldn’t get enough of “cloud dancing”. She was active with her husband in the Commemorative Air Force.
Nell was active in Thornwood Women’s Club, enjoying Lunch Bunch, TGIF and Book Exchange. She is mourned by countless friends who she loved and who loved her. One friend said, “She loved freely and when she loved you, you knew it!”
The Harpers lived in Greensboro, NC, Atlanta, GA, Fairfax VA and resided in Houston for the last 46 years.
In addition to her husband of 66 years, Dick, she is survived by her daughter, Carol Elizabeth Harper Milligan and her husband Ronald Gene Milligan; her son William Richard Harper, Jr. and his former wife Julia Bradford Harper; 3 grandsons who adored her: John Christopher Harper, David Wesley Milligan, Andrew William Milligan; one great granddaughter, Amy Rose Milligan; brother-in-law John Millard Glover, and by many loving nieces, nephews, and cousins. She is pre-deceased by her sister Jewell Faye (Greeson) Glover.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations in Nell’s memory to your favorite charity.
A Funeral Service will take place on Tuesday September 26, 2017 at 3pm in the Chapel at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home, 13001 Katy Freeway, Houston, TX 77079. Interment to follow service.