Nelda Jean (Anderson) WOOD
Nelda Jean (Anderson) Wood of La Porte, Texas passed away Monday morning at home, September 23, 2013 after a relentless battle with cancer. A seventh generation Texan, she was born February 7, 1953 in Shore Acres, Texas to the late Lynnwood Elliott Anderson and Hazel Ola Lowe. She was preceded in death by her mother and father, her maternal grand-parents, Mamie Alta (Foster) and Thomas Oscar Lowe, her paternal grand-parents Cora Maybelle (Lignoski) and Sterling Don Anderson, and three brothers, all Vietnam Veterans, Don Evans, John Elliott, and James Lea.
Nelda is survived by her two wonderful and caring sisters, Margaret "Maggie" Lynn (Anderson) and husband Jim Eddy of Baytown, Texas, Mary Susan "Susie" (Anderson) Black of Marquez, Texas and wife of the late Henry "Sonny" H. Black, and a surviving brother, Douglas Eugene Anderson, husband of Sheila Ann (Hopson), La Porte, Texas. Her surviving nieces and nephews are Donald Wayne McCaughey, Sammie L. (Black) and husband Nathan Childress, Cody J. Black And wife Shannon Guerra, Marta L. and David K. Anderson (children of Don Anderson), and Douglas Anderson, Jr., James Anderson, and Michaela Anderson. Her affections were also imparted on her grand nieces and nephews, Breanna Black, Celeste Black, Blaine Black, Catherine Anderson, and Christopher Nash, Aeden Anderson, and Maria Anderson.
Nelda was born at home in Shore Acres, Texas, being delivered by the family doctor that still made house calls, Dr. Nelson J. Yoder. At 18 months of age, her mother passed away leaving a family to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. As the youngest member of the family, she grew up learning about the outdoors, fishing, and art. She never missed a church service on Sunday and was Baptised at the First Baptist Church of La Porte. Nelda has always been thankful and blessed for the many neighbors and friends who took the time to help her when she was growing up. The saying is true, "It takes a village to raise a child." She was a very motivated, intelligent, and determined individual, beginning school at the Bayshore Elementary, then La Porte Junior High, and graduating from La Porte High School in 1973. Her high school yearbook is posted on the internet at, Classmates.com. She worked for her father at the Main Shoe Store in La Porte and Seabrook, becoming a professional buyer, stylist, and shoe dog; She was a member of the La Porte Bayshore Finns swim team; she received awards for dance and figure skating; an avid fisherwoman with humorous big fish stories; an aviation enthusiast; a talented artist; a stained and leaded glass specialist; a carpenter; a finished woodworker and cabinet maker; played clarinet and French horn for the La Porte High School Band; a highly respected 1LT in the La Porte High School, 1st BN, Army JROTC Sponsor Corps; an honor roll student; she attended Lee College and San Jacinto College; she loved horses and owned several; she was a Committee Member for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Association for many years; a Committee Member of the La Porte and Deer Park Livestock Show and Rodeo Association and Go Texan Committees; and she devoted much of her time helping her family and others. As a family, with friends and neighbors that knew Nelda, she will certainly be missed.
Pallbearers for Nelda will be Donald W. McCaughey, Cody J. Black, Nathan Childress, Christopher Nash, Douglas Anderson, Jr., and James L. Anderson. Honorary Pallbearers will be Jim Eddy, Jeffery Wood, Bobby Powell, Douglas E. Anderson, and all the friends and neighbors of our community that know the value of life and are willing to share favor. The funeral services will be conducted by Reverend Windell Gill, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of La Porte. Visitation for Nelda will be Wednesday, September 25th, 2013, 6:00pm - 8:00pm, and Funeral Services will be Thursday, September 26, 2013, at 11:00am, at the Stepping Stone Funeral Home, 215 South Broadway, La Porte, Texas 77571 Ph: 281- 867-9333. Interment will be at the La Porte Cemetery, 1301 South 8th Street, La Porte, Texas.