Delores Nadine Gartman

Delores Nadine Gartman, was a small-town girl who went far beyond what anyone expected her to do when she was born in Opelika, Texas, in 1935. The town didn’t make it – but she sure did. The most important thing she would want said about her is that she was a god-fearing, Christian in the Southern Baptist tradition – and a teetotaler!

She grew up all over Texas with a father (and mom) who went where ever the work took them. She and her two brothers grew up right on the edge of poor – but not quite there. She married at 14, not because she “had to” but because she wanted to – and she was stubborn and determined so her parents agreed to sign for her.

She didn’t finish high school after her marriage – it wasn’t the usual thing to do back then. She moved around with her husband till he landed a job with an oil company in Eunice, New Mexico, where they would live until he retired.

But her story didn’t end with marriage and three kids. After her youngest entered school, she got her GED and a college degree – on pure grit – while raising a family and working part-time. She then taught school in Eunice, NM, Ruidoso, NM (and was school administrator for a time), and Eustace, Texas while they lived in Athens, Texas.

She was an amazing, courageous women. Always up to learn something new, she decided to learn to build a website to support her beloved Delta Kappa Gamma teacher’s society. She taught herself to build websites for her New Mexico and then her Texas chapters of the organization, receiving the state’s highest honor for her work and dedication to DKG.

She learned to use all of the Microsoft products – Excel, Word, PowerPoint to communicate data and ideas. She was also a world traveler – having taken a group of teen-aged girls to Europe (yes, that was crazy), and going with teacher friends another time. Mexico was another favorite destination.

In her “spare time” she variously taught Sunday School, chaperoned youth trips, sewed her own clothes and crafts, created and operated an antique mall, helped raise three of her grandchildren, and all while being a full-time wife and finally care-taker of her husband of 70 years.

After his death in 2020 she moved to New Braunfels to be closer to her children, Melynda and David. Her son John remains in Hobbs, NM. She chose to move to assisted living because the first year of Covid restrictions left her lonely and isolated and she hated it. As an extrovert she needed to be around other people. She continued to drive her own car until she was 89 and lived pretty much on her own – requiring only minimal services from assisted living.

We joked that after six months she would either run the place or be kicked out – she had definite ideas about how things should be run. We were right and she became the head of the tenant’s council and the head of the ambassador’s program – welcoming and orienting new residents.

All of us were together for her 90th birthday on May 16 – a few days before her death – and we enjoyed music and fellowship and food – her favorite things.

Her final decision, taking charge of her death as in her life, was to go home. She had a medical procedure on the 19th and the doctors delivered not good news about the prognosis and potential treatments. She told them she was tired, ready to go home to God, and was done. Her vitals started to crash and within an hour – she peacefully passed – with us sitting with her witnessing her passing. We asked her to say hello to the ones who went first – especially the boys.

She was pre-deceased by her husband, Thurman, and her two grandsons, Jonathan and Sean. In her direct line she is survived by her children – David (Jann), Melynda, and John (Marty). She also had 3 living grandchildren, and 4 great-grandkids, and 2 great-great grandkids. By marriage she had even more kids, grands, greats, and great-greats.

Arrangements by Zoeller Funeral Home in New Braunfels. No services planned at this time but we will have a memorial of some kind at a later date.