Angelyn Jewel Akins

Angelyn (Ange) Akins, the daughter of Peter and Esther Albertson, was born March 5, 1935, in La Moure, ND where she grew up and graduated from high school in 1953. She enrolled at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN in their nursing program which was in conjunction with Fairview Hospital, Minneapolis, MN. In 1957 she earned a B.S. in Nursing and became an R.N.

After graduation, she worked at Fairview then moved to the Denver, Colorado area with a friend. There she met Kenneth Akins of Covington, TN and they were married in 1959. Shortly after the birth of their son, Randy in 1961, they moved to Texas where Ken took a job with LTV in the aerospace industry. In 1963, a second son, Doug, was born. Over several years, they moved back and forth between Virginia and Texas, finally buying a home in Arlington, TX in 1969.

When both boys were in school, Ange returned to nursing, working over the years in a variety of hospital and clinic settings. During the early 1980s, she began to have health problems due to chemical sensitivities and began advocating for the elimination of smoking in hospitals and public buildings. Having found patients asleep in bed with lit cigarettes, she was thankful when No Smoking laws were finally passed.

Knowledge gained through her health problems was again used at Northeast Community Hospital in Bedford where a new Environmental Care Unit was being planned. She participated in the planning phase and had the opportunity to be part of two videos used for orientation and education. For five years, she worked at the unit doing patient education and clinic work until it was closed due to lack of support from insurance companies.

After divorcing in 1980, she met several women at Trinity United Methodist Church who became close friends and travel buddies. She also traveled with her mother on an Alaskan cruise in 1988 and then in 1991, they traveled to Europe.

She happily became a mother-in-law in 1989 when Doug married Kathy O’Donnell. After becoming a grandmother, she enjoyed using her talents with the sewing machine to make embroidered outfits for her two granddaughters, Hannah and Natalie.

In 1997, Ange retired from her nursing job, but brought her mother to live with her until a nursing home became necessary. Ange continued to watch over her care until her mother’s death in 2004.

Ange continued to sew, making “wearable art” and gifts. After a 2008 trip to Norway and Sweden with her sister, she became interested in family history, collecting information and writing out the stories of each family branch. It was her hope that each succeeding generation would add its own story.

She is preceded in death by her brother, Don Albertson of Burlington, Vermont. Survived by her sons, Randy Akins of Arlington, Texas and Doug Akins and wife, Kathy of Keller, Texas; her sister, Merida Abraham of Shoreview, Minnesota; and her two granddaughters, Hannah and Natalie who also reside in Texas.

Memorials: If desired, memorials may be made to the Arlington Life Shelter, Water to Thrive or Doctors Without Borders USA to whom they meant a great deal to Ange and she supported their causes for many years.