1929
Nelta
2012
Nelta Mann
January 24, 1929 — May 20, 2012
Nelta was born January 24, 1929 in Hedley, Texas, the youngest of six children to J R. and Myrtle Cowan. She started her life during the Great Depression and times were very difficult for her family. Her father died when she was only a year old, leaving her mother to rear the children. Nelta learned about hard work on the farm at an early age but also said she learned to appreciate what little she did have and also to appreciate the most important things in life – family and friends. She passed on this philosophy to her children – work hard and do your best and love your family and friends for exactly who they are.
Nelta was a diligent student and was the salutatorian of her graduating high school class and later in life taught her children that education was their key to success and that good grades were always their own reward. She worked almost all of her adult life at Panhandle Insurance Agency in the accounting department and was a faithful and loyal employee.
In 1948, she married Charley James Moore and together, and four children came in rapid succession – Carolene, Wayne, Bob and Jim. Mr. Moore passed away in 1957, just several months before Jim was born. Then in 1958, she married someone she had known her whole life growing up in Clarendon, Texas – Gilbert Mann, Jr. The last child, Cheryl, came along several years later and Nelta and Gilbert were together until he passed away in 2006.
They reared their five children in a brand-new neighborhood on South Bowie Street. The cornerstone of family life was the church. The Manns were founding members of South Georgia Baptist Church and were also active members at First Baptist Church and finally, in about 1978, Trinity Baptist Church. Throughout all of those years, Nelta always was a fixture in the nursery and children’s ministry, teaching Sunday School to two year olds to four year olds. In fact, she was teaching up to five weeks ago when she became unable to continue due to her hospitalization.
This was an amazing sixty-year-plus span of teaching children about God, a labor of love she took very seriously, diligently preparing her lessons each week, providing supplies, many times out of her own pocket and making sure her co-teachers shared her enthusiasm for the task. Many of her flock of little ones stayed in touch, sending her graduation, wedding and even childbirth announcements through the years, some of them even ushering a small child of their own through her door on Sunday mornings.
Nelta also served in other ways at Trinity Baptist Church- the prayer chain back in the days when you called to pass on the news, the bereavement committee who served meals to families for funerals and her favorite ministry – the quilting ministry. Nelta made at least a quilt a week for three years, so it is a conservative estimate that over 150 people have a warm quilt because of her efforts.
Her generosity and giving back didn’t stop there. Even though she was on a fairly limited income, Nelta gave monthly to many charities besides her tithe to the church.
Nelta was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Gilbert, a grandson, Chris Twing, two brothers and two sisters.
She is survived by one sister, Louvetta Estes of San Antonio, Texas. She is also survived by her children, grandchildren, their spouses and great-grandchildren who were her pride and joy and who all surrounded her with much love in her final days. Her children and their spouses, all of Amarillo, are: Carolene and Kenneth Poole, Wayne and Helen Moore, Bob and Fay Moore, Jim and Glenna Moore and Cheryl and Terry Hollan.
Her grandchildren and spouses are: Shawn and Leslie Twing, Todd and Sharon Poole, Wayne and Lisa Moore, Georgia and Jason Viado, Andrew Moore, Taylor and Tamara Moore, Lisa and Stephen Yoch, Brandon Moore, Blake and Kelly Moore, Nicholas and Sarah Moore and Madison Hollan.
Finally, her greatest legacy, her great-grandchildren are: Ava Jane and Annica Twing, Holden, Gwyn and Gretchen Moore, Hazel and Max Moore, Madeline Yoch, and last but certainly not least, the triplets – Brennyn, Brylee and Brooklyn Moore.
Donations may be given to Nelta’s favorite charities: The High Plains Food Bank, City Church and the Amarillo Rescue Shelter. The family will receive friends and family at 6505 Kingsbury, the home of Terry and Cheryl Hollan.
Nelta was a diligent student and was the salutatorian of her graduating high school class and later in life taught her children that education was their key to success and that good grades were always their own reward. She worked almost all of her adult life at Panhandle Insurance Agency in the accounting department and was a faithful and loyal employee.
In 1948, she married Charley James Moore and together, and four children came in rapid succession – Carolene, Wayne, Bob and Jim. Mr. Moore passed away in 1957, just several months before Jim was born. Then in 1958, she married someone she had known her whole life growing up in Clarendon, Texas – Gilbert Mann, Jr. The last child, Cheryl, came along several years later and Nelta and Gilbert were together until he passed away in 2006.
They reared their five children in a brand-new neighborhood on South Bowie Street. The cornerstone of family life was the church. The Manns were founding members of South Georgia Baptist Church and were also active members at First Baptist Church and finally, in about 1978, Trinity Baptist Church. Throughout all of those years, Nelta always was a fixture in the nursery and children’s ministry, teaching Sunday School to two year olds to four year olds. In fact, she was teaching up to five weeks ago when she became unable to continue due to her hospitalization.
This was an amazing sixty-year-plus span of teaching children about God, a labor of love she took very seriously, diligently preparing her lessons each week, providing supplies, many times out of her own pocket and making sure her co-teachers shared her enthusiasm for the task. Many of her flock of little ones stayed in touch, sending her graduation, wedding and even childbirth announcements through the years, some of them even ushering a small child of their own through her door on Sunday mornings.
Nelta also served in other ways at Trinity Baptist Church- the prayer chain back in the days when you called to pass on the news, the bereavement committee who served meals to families for funerals and her favorite ministry – the quilting ministry. Nelta made at least a quilt a week for three years, so it is a conservative estimate that over 150 people have a warm quilt because of her efforts.
Her generosity and giving back didn’t stop there. Even though she was on a fairly limited income, Nelta gave monthly to many charities besides her tithe to the church.
Nelta was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Gilbert, a grandson, Chris Twing, two brothers and two sisters.
She is survived by one sister, Louvetta Estes of San Antonio, Texas. She is also survived by her children, grandchildren, their spouses and great-grandchildren who were her pride and joy and who all surrounded her with much love in her final days. Her children and their spouses, all of Amarillo, are: Carolene and Kenneth Poole, Wayne and Helen Moore, Bob and Fay Moore, Jim and Glenna Moore and Cheryl and Terry Hollan.
Her grandchildren and spouses are: Shawn and Leslie Twing, Todd and Sharon Poole, Wayne and Lisa Moore, Georgia and Jason Viado, Andrew Moore, Taylor and Tamara Moore, Lisa and Stephen Yoch, Brandon Moore, Blake and Kelly Moore, Nicholas and Sarah Moore and Madison Hollan.
Finally, her greatest legacy, her great-grandchildren are: Ava Jane and Annica Twing, Holden, Gwyn and Gretchen Moore, Hazel and Max Moore, Madeline Yoch, and last but certainly not least, the triplets – Brennyn, Brylee and Brooklyn Moore.
Donations may be given to Nelta’s favorite charities: The High Plains Food Bank, City Church and the Amarillo Rescue Shelter. The family will receive friends and family at 6505 Kingsbury, the home of Terry and Cheryl Hollan.
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