Nita Boyles

When you met Nita Marie Boyles, you felt welcomed and shown genuine interest. She never forgot to ask questions about the “happenings” in your life and being a listening ear. This was just one example of who Nita was and how she impacted those around her. Nita was a clever and gregarious person who always sought out the finest attributes in other people, when others did not. It was as if Nita wanted to share in all of their experiences, revel in their lives, and celebrate their discoveries. Nita was tireless and had boundless energy that would serve her well throughout her life.

Nita was born on January 25, 1939 at Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie, Wyoming. She was the daughter of Nels Alfred Nelson and Winona Marie Hollyman Nelson. Nita was raised in Laramie, Wyoming during her early childhood years. Her mother and father divorced when she was a young child. Shortly after, her father passed away tragically in 1947. One strong memory that stood out to her was an unexpected, long blizzard in 1949. Everyone thought it was just going to be “some snow flurries”, but it was a blizzard for days. Livestock froze still standing up, passenger trains froze on the tracks and many people needed to be rescued (she had family members involved with the railroad), and she was able to walk onto her roof afterwards, because the snow was so high. In early 1950, Nita moved with her mother to a much warmer climate to her aunt’s motel across from the Hacienda Hotel & Casino on the Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was still a small town as the population was less than 30,000 and she attended the original Paradise Elementary School. Her mother had become a nurse for the memorial hospital (now UMC) working odd hours, and she enjoyed spending time with her three maternal aunts that lived nearby.

Nita always had an appreciative eye for the males, and shortly after starting her senior year at the original Basic High School (which is now Burkholder Junior High) in Henderson, Nevada. She married Jesus Molina on October 12, 1956 at 17 years old. When Nita talked about her high school life, she would also mention how Nevada’s future senator Harry Reid was in her class, and one of their teachers was Mike O’Callaghan, Nevada’s future governor. Her friends knew she was ready for fun and was a bit “daring”. This was evidenced by a fond memory she laughingly retold of the time she stole a school bus and drove her friends to Lake Mead for swimming while playing hooky from school. When she was at school, she also loved math. While growing up, some of her best friends were Erma Allison, Jo Ann Martinez. She and her friends enjoyed going out to the lake often and going swimming. Nita graduated high school in 1957.

On November 1, 1958, Nita and Jesus’ family grew as she had her first child, a son named Michael Jesus Molina, whom she adored. She met her next husband, James Leroy Gunder, on a blind double date. She was supposed to go with one guy, but the other one, Jim, was immediately interested in her and had her sit next to him instead. They briefly moved to Detroit, Michigan and on December 28, 1962 had a daughter Connie Sue Gunder, moving back to Las Vegas about six months later. They built a life together, and created many fond memories, including taking many family vacations to explore new areas, like the Redwoods, Crater Lake, Disneyland, Yosemite National Park, and even going to Hawaii. However, Nita showed her strength and determination when her husband couldn’t accompany her and their children due to work, but encouraged her to take them herself to places like Yellowstone National Park and to her childhood home in Wyoming to family.

In 1967, Nita’s mother Winona was tragically killed in her Victory Village Apartment. In Sept of 1977, Nita experienced yet another devastating loss of her son Mike, when he was eighteen years old, and this profoundly impacted the rest of her life. Her marriage to Jim didn’t survive it, and she refocused a lot of energy into going to college to try to earn an associate’s degree. Nita did well in college, as a result of her comfort level with tackling new theories and her love of learning. Though her favorite courses were in geology, and she loved the fieldwork involved in that class, she also took bookkeeping classes, and enjoyed learning on the computer. Nita's problem-solving skills and thirst for new knowledge almost guaranteed that she enjoyed virtually every class she took. She was always in a quest of new things to learn and experience and was intelligent and had little trouble getting along with her peers.

Nita eventually married Larry Gene Boyles on January 24, 1978, at home in Henderson, Nevada, with whom she had another daughter, Katherine Marie Boyles on May 9, 1980. She enjoyed having another daughter to teach new things and was a creative parent who was willing to provide her family with all sorts of new and interesting experiences. For Nita, parenting was a particularly enjoyable and pleasurable part of her life. Every activity, from chores to bedtime routines, became a game in the home.

Nita was uplifted by new ideas and was excited by life’s possibilities, traits that made her an exceptional worker. Her primary occupation was in food service. She was a server, baker, cook, before finally working her way up to the food service manager for the Clark County School District. Nita was enterprising, inventive and working against deadlines seemed to energize her. Nita had the uncanny ability to identify a win/win solution to just about any problem, possibly because of her gift for insight. Nita's fellow workers saw her as a supporter and a mentor.

Because Nita loved to have a broad variety of activities in her life, she took advantage of the opportunity to pursue numerous hobbies. She had many pursuits including learning the piano, gold prospecting, boating/fishing, riding horses, ice skating, playing in the snow, teaching her grandkids to play card games with her, oil painting (especially with her daughter and son-in-law), rock hunting, barbeques, family get-togethers, or some crafty gift for birthdays/holidays. Nita had the ability to find amusement with almost any activity others she shared might discover. Nita had a knack for being able to multi-task in order to create time for all of her favorite pastimes. However, Nita's ever-present concern for others always took precedent.

Possibly due to her own life experiences, Nita was able to empathize and identify with a vast array of people and personality types. This quality allowed her to have a diverse group of friends and acquaintances. She was almost always the first to jump in when it came to playing games or participating in other childhood activities. If you had an interest, she encouraged that interest by finding resources to share with you, or finding supplies to gift you.

Nita liked to refer to herself as “headstrong and stubborn” and responded enthusiastically to any new project and was regularly in search of one adventure after another. It didn’t matter if the project was creating a scavenger hunt for her grandkids, some unique Easter Egg Hunt idea, or knocking yet another wall out of her home in another quest of remodeling, Nita was consistently able to tackle conceptual and abstract problems, using her imagination to master her whatever she set out to accomplish.

Always at the ready with a good joke, she grew up to be quite a humorous person. While some who knew Nita might describe her as an idealist, her friends and family understood well that Nita was always in pursuit of life’s endless possibilities and opportunities available to her.

With a talent for making acquaintances easily which in turn brought her an endless stream of friends, Nita was very sociable and could blend without effort into any social group. Assertive and outgoing, Nita was easy to know and demonstrated a deep concern for others. She always seemed aware of what was going on with people around her and throughout her life she made many, many friends.

Nita derived much satisfaction from participating in recreational sports included bowling, golf, fishing, tennis, swimming, and prospecting.

Throughout her life, Nita was actively involved in professional and community organizations. She was compassionate, accommodating and quick to move into action. Always able to build a consensus, Nita seemed to be the person smack dab in the middle of things, working to get things done. Those who had the opportunity to work with Nita usually agreed that when you were involved in an organization with her, it was as entertaining as anything you could imagine. Throughout her years, Nita was an active member of the VFW, Elks, NRA.

Because Nita was constantly in the center of things and where the action was, she always seemed willing to join in and help, regularly getting involved in community activities. Nita's gift of planning and improvisation, along with a talent for rallying support, made her a great asset. Nita found new ways of getting things done in order to help make just about every activity more efficient and enjoyable. Nita was an active member of several community groups, serving on committees for the VFW Ladies Auxiliary (Henderson, Nevada).

Nita's love of improvising in her daily life was a perfect fit for her enjoyment of traveling. Her favorite vacations were ones that were not planned. Traveling in a casual manor fit her personality well. Excited about seeing changing scenery and constantly looking for the enjoyment life could offer, Nita took her vacations seriously, well, as seriously as she possibly could. Favorite vacations included trip to Yellowstone, Meramec Caverns, and Lake Mead, boating and fishing. There was always a certain style and inventiveness to Nita. She was a dynamic, self-expressive person who was forever looking to celebrate the endless possibilities life had to offer. She had a knack for being clever, creative and witty, and for others, was a joy to be around. While she was often fiercely independent, it seemed as if many others looked to Nita Boyles for inspiration, leadership, wisdom and even courage. Nita was always more than willing to share life’s experiences with her loved ones.

Nita was a lover of animals and cherished her pets and whichever strays happened upon her doorstep. She provided a home to many different animals though-out her life. Some of her favorite pets were Puff, a cocker spaniel; Granger, a wolfdog; Asia, a black lab; and Sassy, a pet alligator.

When Nita's retirement finally came in 1989, Nita handled it the way she usually did. She adapted and, like everything in her life, made it satisfying. Because she was such a flexible person and able to adjust to any situation, retirement was just another enjoyable change of pace for Nita to master. Her new life involved relocating to Bullhead City, Arizona; then Pahrump, Nevada. In retirement, she found new pleasure in gardening, oil painting, and gold prospecting. Even in retirement, Nita continued to stay in touch with her old friends and like always, made plenty of new ones.

Nita Boyles passed away on July 19, 2021 at 82 years old at home in Pahrump, Nevada. She is survived by Connie (Mike) Doeller, Katherine (Kris) White, four grandchildren: Beth (Aaron) Burke, Kelli (Roger) Bakke, Jessica (Jeff) Moore, and Sean Boyles; two step-grandchildren: J.D. and Lorelai White; eight great-grandchildren, and four step great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; and son, Michael Jesus Molina; and three husbands.

A celebration of life for Nita will be Friday, August 13, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Palm Boulder Highway Mortuary, 800 South Boulder Highway, Henderson, Nevada 89015. She will be laid to rest in Palm Henderson Cemetery.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.palmboulderhighway.com for the Boyles family.