Jimmie Nell Courtney

Jimmie Nell (Holman) Courtney passed away on Friday, August 13, 2021 in Austin, Texas at the age of 90. Jimmie Nell was deeply loved by her family and many friends. She is preceded in death by her parents James Wesley and Nellie Mary Holman of Fort Worth, Texas, her older sister Natalie Evans of New Jersey, her younger brother Robert Dayton Holman of California, her husband Clarence “Tucker” Courtney of Fort Worth, and her youngest son Douglas Larry Courtney of Arlington, Texas.

Jimmie Nell is survived by two sons: Dr. James Tucker and Monte Courtney of Poulsbo, Washington, and Charles Roberts “Chuck” and Theresa Courtney of Arlington, Texas. Jimmie Nell is also survived by her daughter-in-law Lynn Courtney of Arlington, Texas, and grandchildren: Christopher Courtney of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Elizabeth Courtney Lane and Dave Lane of Knoxville, Tennessee, Jon Tucker Courtney of Knoxville, Tennessee, Jennifer Courtney of Arlington, Texas, Jameson Patrick Courtney of Austin, Texas, Andrew “Drew” Courtney of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and William Tucker Courtney and Anna Baum, currently residing in Taipei, Taiwan. She was blessed with one great grandchild, Emmy Lane of Knoxville, Tennessee. Also surviving Jimmie Nell are many nephews and nieces and great nephews and great nieces.

Jimmie Nell graduated Handley High School and attended Mary Hardin Baylor College where, because of her height, she played basketball and volleyball. She worked for Ralston Purina Company in Fort Worth, Texas, where she met and then married her husband Tucker Courtney who passed away in 1985.

Jimmie Nell’s passion was gardening and flower arranging. At one time, she had four hot houses in her backyard where she grew chrysanthemums. She created several new varieties of flower including a variety called “Courtenai” noted for its rust color petals. With a competitive spirit and a keen instinct for design principles, she won many blue ribbons and best-of-show awards in numerous local and national flower show competitions. On the other side of the table, Jimmie Nell was a well-known judge both for flower arranging and chrysanthemum growing. She was an officer and director of many garden clubs including the Texas State Garden Club and the president of the National Chrysanthemum Society. She was one of the founders of the Avant Gardeners of Fort Worth, Texas. A volunteer with the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, she planted many pocket gardens, wild scape areas, and topiaries for the center.

She will always be remembered as a good sibling, a patient and supportive wife, a wonderful mother and grandmother, and an exceptional gardener.

Family services for Jimmie Nell will be held later this year after the virus subsides at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Courtney family would like to thank the many doctors, nurses, and aides who cared for Jimmie Nell this past three years at the Live Oak Assisted Living and Brush Country Nursing and Rehabilitation. A special thanks to her cardiologist Dr. Norman Risinger of Austin, Texas for his patient and wonderful bedside manner.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth, Texas.