Mary Nell Barnes Benold was born with a song in her heart on October 11, 1927, in Chester, Texas, and sang her way through 99 years of life. Her earliest performance was singing “Alice Blue Gown” on the radio in Houston when she was four years old.
Nell was born into a pioneer family. Her mother’s ancestors came to Spotsylvania, Virginia in the early 1600’s, and her father’s family came to the Virginia Colony in the mid-1700’s and to Texas in 1836.
Growing up in the small East Texas town of Chester, Nell’s early life was shaped by a strong belief in God, and where education, integrity, and hard work were championed by her family. She grew up during the Great Depression, and although it had a profound effect on her life, she was also blessed with a mother who sacrificed so that she and her sister Grace could have music lessons and other life-enriching experiences.
Nell attended and graduated from Lon Morris Junior College in Jacksonville, Texas in 1946. These two years were some of her most-fondly remembered. There she was actively involved in campus life, especially in the choral and drama programs. She toured the state with the college sextet, a group of six women who sang together, performing in churches and on the radio to benefit the college. From Lon Morris, she came to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and graduated in 1948. While there she sang in the A Cappella Choir and later became an advisor for the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, hosting many Rush parties in her home. There is now an endowed scholarship in her name at SU for Zetas with financial need.
While home in Chester for her sister Grace’s wedding in 1947, Nell met Douglas M. Benold who was standing in for a groomsman who was ill. He was struck by her lively personality, her piano playing and her freckles so much so that when he was in Georgetown visiting his parents from medical school, he called her for a date. Thus began a 76-year love story that was her greatest joy. She and Doug married on August 14, 1948 in Chester, Texas, and then moved to El Paso, Texas, where Doug was doing an Internship. They moved to Georgetown in 1950 where Doug opened his medical practice and they reared their four children. For the rest of their lives they were actively involved in all aspects of the town.
Nell’s faith and her church were always a central part of her life. Her ancestors founded the second-oldest Methodist church in Texas, Mount Hope Methodist Church, in 1837. (The church has held services continually since that time.) A member of First United Methodist Church in Georgetown for 79 years, since her college days when the SU A Cappella Choir was the church choir as well, she served faithfully whenever and wherever needed. She taught Sunday School, was an MYF sponsor, sang in the choir, was active in WSCS (Women’s Society for Christian Service), now called United Women in Faith), played the piano, and welcomed and befriended all of the pastors through the years. Perhaps her contribution of which she was most proud was that of being a founding member of the Volunteer Service League.
Nell and Doug, both graduates of Southwestern University, were lifelong supporters and lovers of the school. They rarely missed an event on campus, and Nell sang its praises wherever she went.
Nell was a consummate hostess. She could put together a gathering, whether it was a dinner party for four or a fund-raising gala for 100, and did so with joy. Her picnics at the family farm near Andice were bountiful, and she was an exceptionally good cook.
Travel was one of the joys in Nell’s life, and she was a true Anglophile, loving all things British…PBS television dramas and comedies, serving high tea at home, and going to England many times with Doug. On one of those trips, she spontaneously gave a piano concert to a packed pub, ending the night playing and singing “Jesus Loves Me,” having exhausted her repertoire.
Nell was preceded in death by her husband, Douglas M. Benold, her parents, Mary Lou Parks Barnes and Bishop Bascom Barnes, her sister Grace Barnes Williams and her cousin Mozelle Whiteside Ellis. She is survived by their four children, Dr. Stephen Douglas Benold and wife Nancy, Laurie Catherine Benold Locke, Lynnelle Benold Boyd and husband Johnny, and Dr. Terrell Barnes Benold and wife Lori, along with their ten grandchildren Cate Noellert (Bill), Amy Heutel (Garth), John D. Boyd, Collin Locke (Reagan), Jordan Benold (Jessica), Sally Boyd Edwards (Kevin), Thomas Locke (Gillian), Laura Benold Murphree (Mollie), Mary Nell Boyd Mercier (Andrew), and Abbey Benold. Nell and Doug are also survived by eleven great-grandchildren, Elliott Heutel, Derrick Edwards, Jackson Noellert, Johanna Heutel, Nora Locke, Nolan Edwards, Miles Locke, Cole Noellert, Natalie Heutel, Hadley Benold, Lincoln Benold, Bishop Locke, Henry Murphree, and Madelynn Grace Mercier.
The family would like to thank Janet Janczak for over 15 years of loyal and dedicated care for Mother and Daddy. We were blessed as well in the past two years with the excellent care given to Mother by Norma Rodriguez, Julie Elsey, Ebambi Ndongola, and Sylvia Medina. They have all made Mother’s last years of life the best it could be.
There will be a private burial service at Oddfellows Cemetery. A Celebration of Life for Nell will be held on Saturday, November 21, at 11:00 a.m. at the Lois Perkins Chapel on the Southwestern University campus, followed by a brunch reception in the atrium of Mood Hall on campus.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial gift to Southwestern University, First United Methodist Church of Georgetown, the Palace Theater, the Central Texas Philharmonic, the Caring Place, or the charity of your choice.
