Nancy Danelia Najera Corral

1972 - 2005

Nancy Danelia Najera Corral, 33, died Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005, in Fort Worth.

Funeral: 4 p.m. Tuesday at Broadway Baptist Church. Dr. Brett Younger will officiate. Burial: Chihuahua City, Mexico.

Memorials: Her memory may be honored with a donation to Spanish Algonquin, in care of Wm Rigg & CO, 777 Main St., Fort Worth 76102.

Pallbearers: Ed Bass, Van Cliburn, Carlos Gomez, Bill Meadows, Douglas More, Peter More, Sam More and Tommy Smith.

Honorary Pallbearers: Stephen Ardizzoni, Bill Bostleman, David Breedlove, Jaime Castro, Jeff E. Fraley, Peter Holland, Matthew Hyder, Bryan King, Lanny P. Lancarte II, Mark Ryan, Kurth Sprague, Alan Thomas, Mike Van Lente and Hector Yanes.

In her short but extraordinary life, Nancy was a blessing to all who knew her. She was the first to show up at friends' homes with flowers in times of need, the last to stay on the dance floor in times of joy and a true source of inspiration and vitality in every situation.

Nancy was born June 22, 1972, in Chihuahua City, Mexico, which would have made her 33, had she not successfully tricked so many of her friends into believing that she was only 32.

She graduated in 1999 from Texas Christian University with a bachelor's of science in advertising and public relations. She remained in Fort Worth, consulted with local corporations that did business in Mexico and was on staff at The Hyder Co.

From the busboys at Joe T. Garcia's, where Nancy began waiting tables as a student, to the black-tie set she uniformly charmed with her wit and natural grace, everyone who met Nancy adopted her as a daughter or sister and she equally treated everyone she encountered with respect and kindness.

She was the model of self-deprecation, aside from the time in December 2003, when she glowed over an Out & About column in the Star-Telegram that identified her as "International beauty Nancy Najera."\t

Nancy helped found a weekly Spanish club that grew from four people to as many as 40, sharing the language, cultural traditions and music of her native Latin America.

She adored music, travel and international cuisine. She also had an appetite for fashion and loved to critique and pick out clothing for those who were happy to humor her.

But mostly she loved to bring together the many friends she cherished, creating an intriguing cast of characters who were bound, if by nothing else, by their love for Nancy.

There was no better example of this than in her final month with us, when she bravely battled cancer and still found the ability to help all of her loved ones find comfort in one another.

She will be sorely, sorely missed.

Nancy was preceded in death by her grandfather, Carlos Corral; and grandmother, Manuelita Jurado.

Survivors: Her mother, Alicia Corral Najera of Juarez, Mexico; her father, Lorenzo Najera of Fort Worth; sister, Edith Najera Vazquez and her husband, Jaime Vazquez, and son, Saul of El Paso; sister, Sarahi Najera of Juarez; brother, Abel Najera of Juarez. She will be held in loving memory by her Fort Worth family of more than 15 years, Douglas More, Whitney Hyder More, Martha Hyder and Nancy's beloved Sam and Peter More; along with countless friends and the entire Fort Worth community.