Dr. Glenda R. Langford Nelson
July 30, 2018, Dr. Glenda R. Langford Nelson took her final journey, this time to Heaven.
A memorial service was held on Friday, Aug. 3, at First Baptist Church, Groesbeck. Graveside services and interment are taking place at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, at Antioch Cemetery in Carthage.
Pallbearers were Joe Armstrong, Randy Armstrong, Chris Favors, Cody Favors, John Favors, Dalton Longenbaugh, Billy Tepe, and Anthony Wietzikoski. Honorary pallbearers were Ross Armstrong, Dewey Lawhorn, Bruce Langford and John Stewart.
An outgoing and generous woman, Glenda touched the lives of hundreds of children in her 36 years as an educator. Glenda was an effervescent lover of life. A voracious reader, she lived out her years traveling like one of the characters in her favorite romance novels.
Glenda was born in Carthage, Texas, on June 10, 1939, to Allen Langford and Josephine Capps. As a youth, she worked on her family’s farm. She was a shy and studious young woman who was valedictorian of Carthage High School, Class of 1957. She went on to East Texas Baptist College in Marshall, completing her Bachelor of Arts in 1960. Her bashful exterior hid a rebel heart. After graduating college, she picked up a Naval hitchhiker at the encouragement of her sister. Within a year, Glenda agreed to marry him on June 4, 1961.
Glenda went on to teach school in California, where she and Addison W. Nelson made their family: Lori Gay Nelson Longenbaugh, Lisa Alene Nelson, and Addison “Duke” Nelson. Upon moving back to Texas, Glenda became the first member of her family to complete her Master of Arts degree, which she earned from Baylor University, and later a Ph.D. from University of Texas. As a teacher she was committed to her students’ educational experience. She was nominated for Texas Women in Excellence in Education and earned multiple mentions in Who’s Who in American Education. Waco’s Channel 10 television station selected her for their Golden Apple Award in 1997. Glenda taught GED and ESL classes at night for 16 years and was awarded the Part-Time GED Teacher of the Year for the State of Texas in 1991. In 1992, she was named the District XII Teacher of the Year.
She retired from teaching in 1996, after teaching her granddaughter’s kindergarten class. Over the years she endowed more than 95 scholarships, mostly to students who were in her kindergarten classes.
In her retirement, she became a storyteller spinning yarns of her life on the farm as a child, her mishaps as a parent, and experiences as a teacher. She was loved around the world, from New Zealand to Switzerland and beyond. She has touched countless lives, always with the belief that we can be better each day. In 2010, ETBU crowned her “Coming Home” Queen and in 2017 she was recognized by the Carthage ISD Distinguished Alumni Association and was awarded the Key to the City of Carthage.
She was dedicated to her community. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, the Red-Hatters Club, Board of Directors for Ft. Parker State Park, member of the Child Welfare Board of Limestone County, Groesbeck Chamber of Commerce, a benefactor of the Moffit Memorial Library and Gibbs Memorial Library and she was and a member of Texas Retired Teachers Association. She left a lipstick imprint on the hearts of all the children she reached.
Glenda loved country music, specifically Patsy Cline and Tex Ritter, and was a benefactor of the Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, Texas.
Glenda is survived by her children and their spouses, her five beautiful grandchildren, Lacey and Dalton Longenbaugh and Angelo, Anton and Jane Nelson. She is also survived by her sisters, Mary Nan Armstrong and her husband Ross; Helen Marie Stewart and her husband John; Sherry Diane Whitehead and her husband Brad; Brenda Sheisser and Joyce Hicks; her sister-in-law, Florence Nelson; her brothers Bruce Langford and his wife Peggy; Charles Langford; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and family all over the world.
She was preceded in death by her husband in 2000, and by her brother, Lindal Wayne Langford, in 2017.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, please donate to the Backpack Ministry. https://www.facebook.com/groesbeckbackpackministry/posts/
Visit www.groesbeckfuneralhome.com to leave messages for the family on the guestbook.
