Nell Copeland passed away on September 18, 2024 in Brownwood, Texas at the age of 88, with family by her side.
Nell was born Sylvia Nell Porter on May 19, 1936, in Sweetwater, Texas to Olin Zee Porter and Grace Ellis Porter. She graduated from San Angelo Lakeview High school, then Southwest Texas State College in San Marcos with majors in Elementary Education and Speech Therapy, and from Rutgers University in New Jersey with a master’s in educational psychology.
Nell worked as a special education instructor and clinical supervisor for the Speech therapy department at Southwest Texas State College in San Marcos. She taught kindergarten classes and special education classes, then became the Special Ed Director in several school districts.
When her kids were young, Nell spent much of her time carpooling them to swim practice, swim meets, and church activities. In her later years, she dedicated time to her passion for genealogy and has left an impressive library of information on her lineage and the lineage of her extended families. She also enjoyed volunteering her time to things such as ESL tutoring, Church of the Good Shepherd medical equipment outreach program, and delivering for meals on wheels. She was a dedicated servant to the Lord at St Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Marcos, Church of the Good Shepherd in Brownwood, and then Central United Methodist Church of Brownwood. Perhaps the highlight of her life was the extensive travel, she was able to do with her husband James, and she kept good records of these memories in scrapbooks.
She is survived by her husband, James (JC) Copeland of Brownwood, son David (Michele) Tokash, daughter Jennifer Tokash Soto, and bonus children Braxton (Barbara) Howle, Roseanne (Ed) Fiero, Lisa (Dean) Callihan, Cliff (Carolyn) Copeland, Stacy (Rick) Eledge, Debbie McConnell, Lea Ann Copeland, and Shawn Copeland. She has also left the legacy of her grandchildren and great grandchildren that she dearly loved.
She was preceded in death by her parents, O.Z. and Grace Porter, her brother James Porter, sister-in-law Anne Porter, two spouses, Joseph Tokash, and Bill Howle, and a bonus daughter, Dana Howle Howard.
The visitation will be on September 23, 2024, from 5:00 P.M. -7:00 P.M. at Davis Morris Funeral Home.
A Funeral Service will be held on September 24, 2024, at 2:00 P.M.., at the Lake Brownwood, Methodist Church, following the burial at Lost Creek Cemetery.
For anyone wishing to make a donation in her name in lieu of flowers, Nell was a supporter of the American Alzheimer’s Association in memory of her father. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Heritage Funeral Home Davis – Morris Chapel -online memorial at www.heritagefuneraltx.com
