Nelwyn Rush Nagel's Obituary
Nelwyn Elizabeth Rush Nagel died peacefully and quietly on Friday, June 15, 2018, in Mandeville, LA, with her children holding her hands. She didn’t speak much during her final few days, but she smiled at us a lot and once demanded that someone “go fix her a cup of coffee.”
She was born on May 10, 1925, in a log cabin in the woods near Kolin, LA, to Laura Pearl Mercer and John Oscar Rush. She grew up the daughter of a sharecropper in central Louisiana during some tough times where she enjoyed such activities as picking cotton and dealing with the outhouse in cold weather. She loved to play softball and ride horses as a young girl and graduated from Cheneyville High School at the age of 14 or 15. Nobody that was there is still alive, so we’re not really sure about that.
“Ms. Nell” is survived by her children: Kathleen Buller (Craig) of Lecompte, LA, Michael Perry (Pam) of Mandeville, LA, Laura Kates (Curt) of Houston, TX, and Paul Perry (Zsuzsi) of Keller, TX. She was very proud of her 14 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. She was predeceased by her parents; her brother, Therwyn Wayne Rush; her sister and brother-in-law, Hazel Rush and Daniel Lejeune; and a grandson, Josh Clayton Buller. Ms. Nell was also preceded in death by just about everybody in her generation including at least four rheumatologists that predicted her early demise for almost 70 years.
Ms. Nell lived most of the last 65+ years of her life in New Orleans, except for a 12-year Hurricane Katrina induced exile to Keller, TX, where she complained about the weather, the lack of SEC football games on TV and developed an extreme dislike for Mexican food and everything with cheese on it. She had many adventures in Texas that provided Paul and Zsuzsi with many years of quality “entertainment.” During the ‘70s, Ms. Nell routinely fed about half of the students of Abramson High School and later more from LSU that one of her kids dragged home for Mardi Gras or just a fun weekend in New Orleans. Her house was always open to any number of kids from the LSU Baptist Student Union or the LSU Golden Band from Tigerland, but there was one firm rule. If you were there on Sunday you had to go to church or you didn’t eat! She was an avid LSU Tiger fan and a proud member of the “Who Dat!” nation. Whenever someone would say that the Tigers or the Saints lost a game, she’d shoot back “Not on my TV!”
A member of Suburban Baptist Church in East New Orleans since 1965, Ms. Nell taught 6th grade boys in Sunday School there for many years. She worked hard until age 80 and for the last 20 years of her working life, she loved working for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans.
Ms. Nell was a prayer warrior who loved the Lord Jesus with all her might and loved her family. She often told her kids and grandkids, “I’m gonna love you forever and maybe a little longer!”
On July 28, the family will take her home to central Louisiana for a private burial in the Philadelphia Baptist Church cemetery near Libuse, LA, where she will rest next to her Daddy and Mama.
What’s your fondest memory of Nelwyn?
What’s a lesson you learned from Nelwyn?
Share a story where Nelwyn's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Nelwyn you’ll never forget.
How did Nelwyn make you smile?