NELLE OLIVER (MANG) MCLAUGHLIN 1924-2020

Nelle Oliver was born in Orange, Texas on February 5, 1924 to Fannie Newport Oliver and James Alexander Oliver, Sr. Nelle was a sixthgeneration Texan and two of her great-great-grandfathers were among the early settlers of Orange. Leaving Orange to live in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the family later settled in Houston, specifically in the Heights, where Nelle attended Travis Elementary and Hogg Junior High and graduated from Reagan High School. Nelle was a member of the drum and bugle corps called the Red Coats and was an officer her senior year. Nelle began taking college classes at the University of Houston. She attended St. Mark’s Methodist Church, where she met her husband, Conrad Mang. They married during World War II. Conrad was in the Coast Guard, and during the war, they lived in Norfolk, VA and New Orleans, LA.

After the war, the couple began their family, having two daughters. Nelle and Conrad moved to Austin, where they both attended the University of Texas. Nelle completed her Bachelors degree in Elementary Education in 1954. After graduation, Nelle and Conrad and their children moved to Beaumont, Texas. Conrad was a professor at Lamar University, and Nelle taught at Eugene Field Elementary for 30 years. During this time, she received her Masters degree in Education and was selected as the “Teacher of the Year” in 1978 for the Beaumont Independent School District.

After retirement, Nelle and her husband began pursuing many shared interests. They traveled to all 50 states and visited all 50 capital cities. They travelled to 42 foreign countries, including nine Canadian provinces and fifteen Mexican states. They were avid bird watchers. They were interested in family genealogy, researching 15 family trees and visiting countless courthouses, libraries, and archives while documenting their relatives. Nelle had twelve ancestors who lived in Texas while it was a Republic and was a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Ima Hogg Chapter, where she served as its registrar, chaplain, and president. After Conrad’s death, Nelle remarried to Marvin Louis McLaughlin (‘Mac’) of Beaumont, Texas in 2002.

After Mac’s death, Nelle lived at the Brookdale in Houston, Texas for 11 years, where she continued a very active life and served as president of the resident’s board for 8 years-- serving beyond the maximum term limit, an exception granted just to her. Nelle was very active at St. Luke’s Methodist Church. Nelle was the namesake of her granddaughter’s musical band, ‘Ten Pretty Girls,’ named after Nelle’s highschool friend group, and attended every show. Following her time at the Brookdale, Nelle spent her remaining 3 years at the Belmont Senior Village where her daughter and son-in-law visited daily and where the attentive staff knew her for her breadth of knowledge, sweet demeanor, and sense of humor.

Nelle was adored by all who met her. She was eventempered, quick-witted, open-minded, sweet, intelligent, all-around ‘cool’, and had an unquenchable thirst and interest for life. She was a wonderful, dedicated, and patient mother and grandmother enjoying countless hours of imaginative play with her children and grandchildren. She loved time with family at the beach in Galveston or on the river in New Braunfels. ‘Mammy,’ as Nelle was called by her grandchildren, organized countless family trips to celebrate her birthday in some of her favorite cities like New Orleans and New York City. She was wonderful company, could beat anyone at trivia, and enjoyed Mexican food and a daily dirty martini.

Nelle lived to be 96 years old, and was preceded in death by her husbands Conrad Dell Mang and Marvin Louis McLaughlin, her siblings Martha Elizabeth Gaustad and James Oliver Junior, her daughter Suzanne Mang McKibbin, her sonin-law Salvatore Nizza, and her grand-daughter Amy McKibbin. Those succeeding her are her daughter Diane Mang Nizza, sons-in-law Federico Zegarra-Ballon and Veryl McKibbin, Jr., grandchildren Daphne Nizza Shaw (Carl Shaw), Trevor McKibbin (Marcy Reynolds), and Ariana Nizza, and greatgrand-children Brendan Shaw, Julia Shaw, Suzanne McKibbin and Mallory McKibbin as well as many relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be Thursday, March 5 at Earthman’s Funeral Home at 4525 Bissonnet in Bellaire, Texas. The visitation will be at 10:00 a.m. followed by the funeral service, reception, and burial at the Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery at 2:00 p.m. Nelle has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, at P.O. Box 22013, Houston, Texas 77227-2013.