Johnnie Selena [Higgins] Nelms

Johnnie Selena [Higgins] Nelms

Dates:
Birth date: December 10, 1924
Death date: March 4, 2013

Johnnie Selena Nelms was born December 10, 1924 in White Rose, Oklahoma to James and Edna [Simon] Higgins. She died at a local nursing home with family and friends at her side on March 4, 2013 in Lawton, Oklahoma at the age of 88. Funeral services will be held 1:00 pm March 8, 2013 at Whinery-Huddleston Chapel officiated by Pastor Maurice Ford. Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens under the direction of Whinery-Huddleston Funeral Service. A reception for family and friends will be held from 6:00-8:00 PM on Thursday, March 7, 2013 evening at the funeral home.

She attended local schools in Marietta, Oklahoma. She started a long successful career for the Civil Service at Camp Howze, Texas, adjacent to Gainesville, Texas. She continued working with the Civil Service for many years retiring as the Chief of Civil Service Personnel at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1986. She met Albert Nelms when he was assigned to Fort Sill in 1957; they married five years later in Duncan, Oklahoma in 1962. She would tell her family and friends that when she retired she was going to take all the courses available at the Great Plains Technology Center for floral arrangements and then work for a florist shop in town. She never went to work for anyone; her family believes she was too busy spoiling her children especially the grandkids, but she enjoyed making beautiful floral arrangements for all her family and friends. She was also a great cook with a big heart. She made sure that no one was hungry when you were at her house; it has been known that complete strangers have eaten at her table. She was a member of Northside Baptist Church, and a member of the Eastern Star. She was preceded in death by both parents, James T. Higgins, and Edna E. Higgins; brother, Joe Higgins; sister Beth Conaway.

She is survived by her husband Albert Nelms of the home; son, Chuck Adair and wife Kay, of Sun City West, AZ; step-son, Albert K Nelms, of Anchorage, AK; step-daughter, Cynthia K Howell and husband Lewis, of Austin, TX; three granddaughters, Stephanie Tallent, of Yorktown VA; and Charlotte Lippincott, of Port Jefferson, NY; and Miste Adair, of Denver, CO; step-grandson, Ronnie Carmichael, of Augusta, GA; two step-granddaughters, Crystal Howell, of Austin, TX, Abigail Korn, of Anchorage, AK; two great grandsons, Ryan Tallent, of Garner, NC, Jordan Tallent, of Yorktown, VA; step-great Grandson, Jordan Carmichael, of Augusta, GA; brother, Jack Higgins and wife Claudell, of Marietta, OK; sister, Ann Ricketts and husband Dee, of El Reno, OK. She also has numerous loving nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family members.

Memorials:
Autumn Light Hospice,1702 W. Gore Blvd, Lawton, OK 73505

Visitation:
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013 at Whinery-Huddleston Funeral Service 6210 NW Cache Road Lawton Oklahoma 73505

Service:
1:00 pm on Friday, March 8, 2013 at Whinery-Huddleston Chapel 6210 NW Cache Road Lawton Oklahoma 73505

Cemetery:
Sunset Memorial Gardens 8900 NW Cache Road Lawton Oklahoma 73505