Lawanna Underwood Nelson

Lawanna Underwood Nelson died January 1, 2014 at Midland Memorial Hospital in Midland, Texas. Memorial services will be held on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 at the First Baptist Church Chapel at 11:00 a.m. in Midland, Texas. Private graveside services will be held at the old Cleburne Cemetery, Cleburne, Texas in the Nelson family plot. Lawanna was born February 16, 1934 to H.E. "Bill" Underwood and Foy Flurry Underwood in El Reno, Oklahoma, moving with her family from Marlow, Oklahoma to Vernon, Texas in 1944. She has been a resident of Midland, Texas since 1951. She was a long-time employee of Gulf Oil Corporation, from 1953 until her early retirement in 1985, working for Production Department of Management the last 25 years of her service. On June 10, 1961 she married Thomas Joseph Nelson in Midland, Texas. He preceded her in death on November 30, 2003. Her parents and stepson, David Barrington Nelson, also preceded her in death. She is survived by her stepson, Thomas Keith Nelson, of Gallatin, Tennessee; her grandchildren, Adam Russell Nelson, Brendan Rigel Parsons, and Thai Lien Parsons, and their parents, Regina Davey and Neil Lehan (Lee) Parsons, Jr., all of Damariscotta, Maine; her sister and spouse, Sue U. and Robert W. Hazard, of Cordova, Tennessee; a sister, Cheryl U. Cowart, of Sherman, Texas; and other family members, as well as a host of friends from near and far, considered as part of her extended family. Memorials may be directed to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, P.O. Box 50, Memphis, TN 38101-9929, Gifts of Hope, Inc., P.O. Box 1323, Midland, TX 79702, or to a charity of choice. Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Midland. Online condolences can be made at www.npwelch.com.