Nell Matthews

SERVICES:  SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 20132:00 P. M.MCCLAIN-HAYS CHAPELVISITATION:  SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 201312:00 NOON UNTIL SERVICE TIMEINTERMENT:  LINWOOD CEMETERYMs. Matthews, 80, died Monday, November 11, 2013 at St. Tammany Hospital in Covington, Louisiana.She was a native of Neshoba County and had lived in Tylertown for the past 25 years.  Ms. Matthews was a member of Linwood Baptist Church in Neshoba County. Survivors include her daughter, Charlynn Harvey and her husband, Cary of Tylertown and grandsons, Caleb Matthew Harvey, Graham Evan Harvey and Taylor Dustin Harvey.Ms. Matthews was preceded in death by her daughter, Barbara Wonell Matthews and parents, O.W. and Myrtle Parker.Pallbearers were Caleb Harvey, Graham Harvey, Wayne Parker, Josh Parker and Luke Atkins.  Dear friends and family,Let me tell you a bit about my mom. She was born Joyce Wonell Parker on Jan. 22, 1933 in Mississippi. She was an only child and from all accounts, especially her own, she was a real daddy’s girl. She won a Shirley Temple Look-a-Like pageant but I don’t think that did her justice. She grew up to be a knock out. Couldn’t seem to take a bad picture if she tried. She married my dad, Joe Matthews, in 1951 and I followed in 1952. The first real memories I have were when we lived in Mississippi City. The first time I had the chance to eat oysters I remember mom telling dad she wanted to fry them for me, not even let me look at them raw. And so began my lifelong love of oysters which I probably would never have touched again if the first one had been raw. We were in Mississippi City when mom lost my little sister, Barbara, at birth. I’m sure those were really hard times but she kept that anguish from me for the most part. She even missed my sister’s funeral at Linwood because she was still in the hospital. She always called Barbara “the baby” and soon she will finally lie beside that little girl. I can’t remember ever NOT having a dog growing up and I don’t think mom ever went long without one the rest of her life. There were assorted cats in there too but she was definitely a “dog” person. I think one of her earliest dogs was “Snowball”. The first dog that I remember was a female red cocker spaniel named Butch. Mimi, Mitzie, Inky, Cocoa and now Roxie all followed. I might have missed one or two. Soon Nell became an Army wife and our travel adventures started. She made lifelong friends easily everywhere we went. When dad went to Vietnam or Korea we would always move back home close to Union, probably so she could get help raising a rebellious teenager. She tried to raise me right and she could be strict and we would butt heads. I have Army Brat girlfriends that still swear today that she terrified them. She made me take piano lessons and made me practice and I thank her so much for that today. We were both excited and a little scared when dad got orders to Germany but she really loved living in Germany and, yes, we hauled two dogs to Germany and back. I have so many memories of her hauling me and my girlfriends and another mom or two cramped in that little blue Volkswagen.  While dad was working we would go off on adventures:  exploring castles, going into the countryside, checking out German festivals and antiques.  She got on a kick about antique clocks and I've inherited the two monster timepieces we acquired there.  I will always cherish them.  One of my favorite trips was when she took a friend and her daughter with us to Amsterdam, Holland. I still don't know how the four of us fit into that little car along with all we bought.  She loved nothing better than getting in her car and going. She even taught a German friend of hers to drive while we were in Germany. I believe I’ve heard stories that she taught my Aunt Laverne to drive as well. She couldn’t seem to teach me. I remember her finally giving me the keys to dad’s Triumph and telling me to just keep going around the block in Union until I figured out the stick shift.That was the best decision for both of us. Right up to the end she loved going somewhere in the car. She would swear she could still drive if you asked her last week. I’m sure it was hard for mom when her only child headed off to college and then married. She waited 7 years before she got that first grandchild and, though she absolutely refused to be called Maw-maw or Granny, she went all out to be the world’s best Mimi. Once Caleb came along she stayed in the road between Enterprise, AL and Tylertown, MS and was always willing to babysit any time, anywhere. The trips back and forth only increased when Graham came along. She was a hands-on Mimi. If they were in the mud she probably was showing them how to do it right. When Cary and I found out that we were expecting our third child she was in the process of selling her home in Enterprise and moving to Tylertown. We deliberately held off telling her until AFTER she got an acceptable offer on the house because we knew she would have sold it for nothing in order to be in Tylertown for Taylor’s birth. She was in the thick of their lives: at ball games, birthday parties, scouts, sleep overs, band concerts, school plays, proms, vacations. She would volunteer to be the passenger in the go-cart, the guinea pig on the trampoline or the lifeguard in the pool. Whatever it was, she was there. She bragged on them at every opportunity, spoiled them rotten, loved them wholeheartedly and covered their mischief when she could and I'm not sure she ever managed to get the hang of "NO" where they were concerned. Caleb, Graham and Taylor were the world to her. Even in her last days when life was really hard you could always get a smile if you mentioned one of her grandsons.  I’ve never known anyone to make the lifelong friends she did. Absolutely everywhere we went she formed friendships that lasted until her illnesses turned her inward. She was always up for an adventure, for a laugh with friends. She made a point to keep up with friends and with family. She even turned my friends into her friends and as some would tell me “she’s more fun than you, Charlynn!!” She really WAS fun to be around. For those that came to know her late in life, they sometimes have a hard time connecting their Nell to our Nell. Truthfully, I lost sight of the old Nell often in the last years. Sometimes I couldn’t make the connection between the two Nells either. But even late in life there would be moments when the old Nell would resurface and there would be a glimpse of the wonderful, goofy, funny, beautiful woman I call MOM.