Nelda Dippel Obituary Nelda Marie Davis Dippel, 81 years of age, passed away on Tuesday evening March 11, 2013. She was preceded in death by her husband, Raymond Henry Dippel, her parents, M.H. and Linda Doyle Davis, her sister, Christine Denton, and her brother, Kenneth Davis. She is survived by her sister, Charlene Powell, and her four children, Raye Lynne Dippel of Colorado Springs, Clifford Ray Dippel, Sherri Gay Miller, and Kerry Lane Dippel of Lubbock, Texas; eight grand children; and four great- grandchildren. Her grandchildren included by age, are Vanessa Braziel, Ondria Mings, Martin Papp, Stephan Papp, Garrett Dippel, Nicholas Woodall, Piero Papp, and Dylan Dippel. Her great-grandchildren included by age, are Ashley Dominguez, Ashton Braziel, Elexi Dominguez, Kate Lynne Braziel, and Ondrash Hernandez. Tammy Dippel, Jerry Miller, and Marcus Braziel, daughter-in-law and son's in-laws, were loved by Nelda as if they were her own children. Nelda was born May 28, 1931 in Lorraine, Texas. An exceptionally smart child, Nelda skipped several grades, graduating from White Face High School when she turned 16 years old. When she was 18 she moved to Lubbock to attend nursing school. A fellow nursing student introduced Nelda to her very handsome brother, Raymond. Soon Nelda and Raymond were secretly married, because the residential nursing school did not allow students to be married. In a few years, Nelda and Raymond had four children. Nelda continued to work as a nurse, eventually working at the Veteran's Administration Clinic. While working and raising four children, she completed her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing, and then completed a master's degree. Her work was so outstanding that she was appointed by the President of the United States to be Chief Nurse of the V.A. Clinic in Lubbock. Nelda eventually became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nursing at Texas Tech University until she retired. Her family is very proud of her accomplishments and the impact that Nelda has had on so many lives. Nelda loved to create. She was constantly working on one project or another. She was extremely skilled as a seamstress and made most of her daughters' clothing. Like her mother, she knitted and crocheted. Hours were spent canning fruits and vegetables. She enjoyed drawing and oil painting. She helped Raymond build houses. Nelda loved to fish with Raymond and her children and grandchildren. She was an avid reader. She seemed to know something about everything and it was Raye Lynne's experience that she was almost always right if there was a disagreement. Nelda was very strong, physically and emotionally. She was full of humor and laughter. Nelda was fun. She beat breast cancer, Lupus, and Grave's Disease but was not able to overcome her greatest fear, Alzheimer's Disease. Nelda's daughter, Sherri, devoted the last five years to taking care of her father until his death in 2009 and then her mother. Sherri visited her mother almost every day that Nelda was in the Alzheimer's residential home and provided her mother with all her love and the best care possible. Nelda retained her sense of humor until the very end. At the time of death, Nelda opened her eyes after two days of being non-responsive. She looked deep into the eyes of her two daughters and her oldest grand-daughter to say good-bye and her girls were able to give her their love as she closed her eyes and left this world.