Nelda Jaye Perez

1941 - 2023

Nelda Jaye Perez
November 29, 1941 - June 4, 2023
Cedar Hill, Texas - Nelda Jaye Perez, age 81, passed away to be with her Lord and savior Jesus Christ at her home in Cedar Hill, TX on Sunday June 4th, 2023 after a valiant and inspiring eighteen-month fight against cancer. Thus passed a remarkable, kind and accomplished wife, mother and grandmother cherished by so many who had come to love her.
Nelda was the youngest daughter born to Guy Adrian Porter and Myrtle Inez Porter (McGraw) in Pecos, TX on November 29, 1941. Nelda had two beloved older sisters, Sally and Edith who have predeceased her. They lived in a home built by the hands of their father, Guy, outside of Pecos, with animals including a treasured family cow they named Joe Lewis. Although the family did not have a lot of money, they never lacked for necessities due to the hard work of their father with the Railroad and the enterprise of their affable mother in their family business who sold articles door to door. Nelda was known for her sweet disposition, impish humor and thoughtfulness. Young Nelda made it known to the family that she "could speak dog talk, and cat talk." Because of her loving connection to animals, no one doubted her.
Nelda's parents instilled in their daughters a devotion to Jesus Christ, a firm understanding to never look down on others, and to value education. As she accompanied her mother on sales visits, she would play with Mexican children of their customers and she quickly picked up Spanish to add to her growing linguistic repertoire. Her mother's was the only business to extend credit or barter for farm goods to the migrant farm workers who had little money or transportation to get to town. Her fascination with other cultures and languages blossomed. Nelda also developed a beautiful singing voice she put to good use at church services, in choirs, and on a few occasions joined her talented sisters to sing on radio programs and even on television in Monahans, TX as "the Porter Sisters," where they sang "How Much is That Doggy in the Window."
Nelda went off to college to study at East Texas Baptist College, and then transferred, graduating from Wayland Baptist College with a BA in English with minors in Music and Spanish. She then attended and received her Masters Degree in Spanish from West Texas State (now West Texas A&M University) in Canyon, TX. During a break at an evening class, while standing in line at a coffee machine, she met the love of her life, a studious young U.S. Air Force officer named Juan F. Perez. Her interest in other cultures led to this chance meeting and 57 years of a beautiful marriage.
As an Air Force wife, Nelda demonstrated remarkable patience, resilience and understanding. She accompanied Juan to postings like Vandenburg AFB in California and icy Goose Bay Canada. Juan Jr. was born in Amarillo, Patrick was born in Canada. When Juan Sr. was sent to Korea, Nelda had to accomplish the logistical feat of getting two boys from Canada along with all of their possessions to move by herself into a house that was under construction in Laredo, TX. Later, Mario and Karla were born in Tucson, Arizona, at Davis Monthan AFB, before the family of six returned to Texas.
Nelda provided endless love and care to her children. She nursed wounds, seizures, broken arms, scorpion stings, managed asthma with her boys and helped doctors to treat a cataract in the eye of her cherished daughter. She took them to church, taught them to treat everyone with kindness, and to value education.
Nelda completed all of her course work for a doctorate but she prioritized her obligation to her children. Her devotion to them did not allow her the time to write her dissertation. She launched an accomplished career in teaching. Nelda taught English as a second language (ESL) at then Tarrant County Junior College where she bonded with her students. She helped them with their businesses, family problems, and in navigating health care treatments. In turn, they loved and respected her. She taught both Spanish and French at Arlington High School and later would drive every day a combined three hours to teach full time at Tarleton State University.
The family would take several rollicking road trips in the family van from Texas to the Rocky Mountains, Pink Floyd blaring, cross country through the Smokey Mountains, all the way to New York and back. She demonstrated great patience with her children and came to even appreciate some of their musical selections.
Her commitment to justice and fairness led her to join her husband's activities in numerous civil rights organizations focusing on advancing the Hispanic community. She would serve as an officer, often carefully transcribing minutes during meetings in organizations such as The United Hispanic Council of Tarrant County, Image de Tejas, and the National Organization for Mexican American Rights.
Her last career saw her shift from education to work in the Division of Environmental Justice at the Environmental Protection Agency in Dallas, TX. She worked with tribal authorities to connect them to desperately needed resources and to advocate for their health and welfare in the face of dangerous incidents of water, land and air pollution. She worked in Louisiana, living out of a FEMA trailer, to help with the Katrina response in 2006. She always showed compassion and fairness to others.
Retirement saw her to move with her husband to a large quiet bucolic home in Cedar Hill, TX with a pond and beautiful trees, fulfilling a long-held desire. She deeply loved her grandchildren, Lara (20), Maya (17), Maddie (14), and Chloe (29). She always had time for them, trekking to countless soccer games on cold mornings, listening to their thoughts, and savoring in their achievements. She traveled to California to babysit Maddie many times and had countless adventures with Lara and Maya on an epic road trip in Spain and on a trip to Mexico where she famously para-sailed over the ocean between laughing granddaughters.
She survived a serious aneurysm surgery in 2017. With great personal effort and care from her husband and children, she recovered. In 2021, after a wonderful Christmas with all of her children and grandchildren she was diagnosed with advanced peritoneal (ovarian) cancer. The day after her cancer diagnosis and first round of chemo, she tested positive for COVID, contracted in the hospital, resulting in a week of brave solitude. Her children and family rallied to her for her eighteen-month fight against cancer. No effort was spared on her behalf.
She endured nine rounds of chemotherapy and surgery with great valor. Tragically, the cancer, once purportedly eliminated from scans and lab reports, soon returned. Bravely, she enrolled in a clinical trial enduring weekly trips to MD Anderson in Houston. A major motivation for Nelda to undergo the arduous drug trial was to help researchers develop better treatments or even cures for future cancer patients. These trips with her children and husband became happy occasions with many wonderful memories. Her health ultimately failed her and she could no longer fight anymore. Her efforts produced valuable data to clinical trial researchers who press on in this fight. She entered hospice at home where her husband and children exhausted every means of support on her behalf.
Nelda Jaye Perez lived a beautiful, fulfilling life where she always sought to serve others, uphold fairness, and exemplify Christian love. Those who knew her were blessed and will remember her with great affection.
She passed away quietly with no pain, hands held, surrounded by her husband, children, grandchildren, and beloved daughter-in-law Sarah on Sunday June 4th in the early evening as beautiful clouds and light rain blew over her house.
Any memorial tributes may be made in the form of charitable donations to https://bit.ly/3P2aRtn under Blanton-Davis Ovarian Cancer Research Program at MD Anderson in memory of Nelda Perez.