Nancy Lucille Neason
Nancy Lucille Neason was born on March 29, 1943, in Marshalltown, Iowa, to Wayne and Lucille Ingham, the oldest of two daughters. Nancy grew up in the house that Wayne and Lucille built in Marshalltown and graduated from Marshalltown High School in 1961.
After high school, Nancy attended St. Luke’s Methodist School of Nursing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she met her lifelong friend Jan (Selk) Jurgens. Nancy and Jan graduated from nursing school in 1964, got an apartment together in Cedar Rapids, and began their nursing careers.
In 1966, Nancy and Jan decided to move to Houston, where both took nursing positions at Methodist Hospital. Nancy subsequently worked at the University of Texas Medical Branch Hospital in Galveston, Texas, where she earned a Coronary Care Nursing certification in 1969.
While in Houston, Nancy met Grant Neason, and they married in 1969. They bought a house in Sagemont and had two boys together: Eric Wayne Neason (1971) and Curtis Grant Neason (1973).
Nancy went on to work as the school nurse at Stuchberry Elementary in Pasadena ISD in 1977, where she worked until she retired in 2002. Nancy made many great friendships at Stuchberry that continued with her for the rest of her life.
Nancy and Grant later divorced in 1978. Nancy and her boys, Eric and Curtis, moved to an apartment in Clear Lake City. Eric and Curtis fondly remember these days and all Nancy did to raise them on her own as a single mom – often working a second job in the evenings and weekends to make ends meet.
One of Nancy’s proudest accomplishments was buying her house in Friendswood, Texas, in the summer of 1983. She lived in that house she loved for nearly 40 years until she moved to St. Dominic Village in 2022.
In her 20 years of retirement, Nancy enjoyed arts & crafts, reading, and traveling. She enjoyed watching sports on TV (particularly the Houston Astros and watching their 2022 World Series championship!), the home shopping network, and crime documentaries. She also loved watching her grandchildren’s various music and dance recitals. Most of all, Nancy was incredibly proud of her five grandchildren and their accomplishments!
Nancy, age 79, passed away on Saturday, January 14, 2023, due to complications with a heart procedure.
She is survived by her children Eric Neason and his wife Gina of Spring, Texas, and Curtis Neason and his wife Chau of Bellaire, Texas. She has five grandchildren that she loved very much: Reid Neason, Rachel Neason, David Neason, Daniel Neason, and Everett Neason. She is also survived by her sister, Kathy Elsberry, her husband Mark, and their children Jenni Clark and Jake Elsberry – all of Omaha, Nebraska. She is preceded in death by her parents, Wayne Ingham and Lucille Ingham.
A memorial service for Nancy will be held on Saturday, January 21, 2023, at 4:00 PM at Crossroads (formerly Cokesbury) United Methodist Church at 10030 Scarsdale Blvd, Houston, TX 77089, with a reception immediately following at the church.
My heart is breaking. Nancy and I shared so many wonderful and painful events during our friendship. I will miss our conversations and laughs as we grew old together. Nancy had the strongest resilience as she dealt with her medical problems through the years. I never tired of hearing how proud she was of her boys and her five grandchildren. Love you forever, Nancy.
We send love, sympathy and prayers to your entire family. I will always remember the look in Nancy’s eyes when she looked at her grandchildren. I know that feeling. Bob said many, many times what a wonderful job Nancy did raising her two boys. I agree. Nancy will be missed by all who knew her. Love, Bob & Jan
Nancy. Erica and i have and will continue to miss your smiling face and loving personality. You were always loving g and caring to all those who came to you for aid or to talk. You will enjoy your new home although you earthly home will miss you.
I first met Nancy as a child because our parents were best of friends through our church in Marshalltown Ia. We lived on a farm and she lived in town but she spent many days with us and we rode our horse, played hide and seek and other games. Even some sleigh rides using our tractor and hay rack. They sometimes came out to help with farm work She came to Houston with Jan shortly after I had moved here to take a job. We continued our relationship here playing sometimes playing “Rook” until late in the evening. The military and work separated us for several
Years but we never lost contact as Jan kept us with us both. I will remember her as a loyal lifelong friend, a dedicated mother and fellow believer who is now out of all
pain with her savior.
Nancy, Mary, and I were best friends through grade school and high school. Our career paths lead us in different directions, but our friendship continued through the years. We were together here in Iowa in 2008. We spent several days sharing memories and going to our favorite places in Marshalltown. Since then, we continued our conversations by 3-way phone calls or 3-way “spur of the moment” texts. Our phone calls usually lasted at least two hours! We talked about our kids, grandkids, recipes, weather, and medical issues just to name a few. We never ran out of things to discuss. We will miss her voice, her unique sweet laugh, and most of all her friendship. Friends forever – Nancy, Mary, and Shirley
Nancy and I met when we sat next to each other in second grade at Anson School in Marshalltown. We were part of a class that had fewer than the usual number of students, so we spent our elementary and junior high years sitting together in the same classroom. We all got to know each other pretty well during that 10 years.
In high school Nancy, Shirley Wall, and I remained close friends in close contact. We rode the city bus to school every morning, ate lunch together in the cafeteria at noon, and rode the bus home again in the late afternoon. We attended at least 4 million football and basketball games together during those high school years,
After high school graduation, we went our separate ways, and unfortunately didn’t stay in the same close contact that we had before. This loss of closeness lasted through our early and middle adult years while we were working and raising families.
Eventually, we discovered that we could use email to keep in touch, and we started communicating again. When cell phones with free long distance service came along, we started enjoying 3-way phone chats. It was wonderful to hear those familiar voices reminiscing about our shared experiences from the past. We chatted about everything we could possibly remember, and we kept up the chatting until just a couple months ago, when health problems got in the way.
Nancy and Shirley have always been my best friends, and they have added very, very much to my life. I have already begun to miss Nancy more than I can say. This will remain eternal; she will never be forgotten.