Nita Gilliland

Francis Juanita "Nita" Gilliland
Nita Gilliland, surrounded by her four daughters, died on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, at the age of 86. Born on June 8, 1925 to Arthur and Beulah Clement, Nita was the sixth of seven children. She graduated from Era High School. She met the love of her life, William Franklin Gilliland, while they were working in an aircraft manufacturing plant in Dallas during World War II. She and Bill were married on September 24, 1946, in Mercedes, Texas. They continued to work together at Texas Federal Inspection Service in Harlingen, Texas, where all four of their daughters were born. When the Inspection Service moved to Austin, the family relocated. Their colleagues were a close-knit group that were like an extended family. Bill and Nita retired after over thirty years of service. Nita was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Bill Gilliland, her parents, three brothers, two sisters, and two nephews. She is survived by her daughters Karen Kouri and her husband, Richard Kouri, Lynda Shilling and her husband, Don, Jean Fulk and her husband, George, and Judy Gilliland, all of Austin; her brother Elden Clement of San Pedro, California. The family would like to thank Jean Lynch as well as Hospice Austin for their care and compassion. Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from six o'clock to eight o'clock in the evening on Thursday, the 23rd of June 2011, at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas. Funeral services celebrating Nita's life will be conducted at three o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, the 25th of June, in the Colonial Chapel of Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas. Internment will follow at Cook-Walden Capital Parks, Pflugerville, Texas. In lieu of flowers and customary remembrances, the family suggests donations be made to Hospice Austin, 4107 Spicewood Springs Road Suite 100, Austin, Texas, 78759. Condolences may be sent to www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com.