Elaine Nail

Elaine Nail, 89, of Lubbock, Texas, peacefully went to join her Lord on Monday, October 17, 2022. The family will receive friends and family at Resthaven Funeral Home in Lubbock on Sunday, October 23, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Her service will be held on Monday, October 24, at 1:00 pm at Calvary Baptist Church in Lubbock. Interment will follow at Resthaven Cemetery.

Elaine was born in San Angelo, Texas, on February 26, 1933, to C.A. (Doug) and EvaLena Fairbanks. She graduated from San Angelo High School and received an Associate of Arts degree from San Angelo College (now Angelo State University). She also received a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She did post-graduate work at East Texas State University, North Texas State University, the University of Houston, and Texas Tech University.

She married Jimmy Nail on August 25, 1957, in the chapel at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, only the 11th couple to be married in the chapel at that time. She and Jimmy had been married 65 years at the time of the passing.

Elaine had many jobs from junior high school all the way through college, including her grandfather’s store in San Angelo, where they sold textbooks, school supplies, and other items, and did the bookkeeping. She also worked at her dad’s store, Fairbanks Food Mart. That job included chicken plucking, culling produce, and sacking eggs.

At San Angelo College, she worked in the Dean’s/Registrar’s office making transcripts. She also worked as the secretary for the president of the college. At Trinity University, she worked in the Registrar’s office and in the library. Following graduation from Trinity, she taught at Burbank Junior-Senior High School in San Antonio, where she taught English and a class called “Freshman Problems,” a group counseling/sociology class that she developed. She also worked in the Dean of Girls office, which led her to get a Master’s degree in Counseling, graduating on a Friday night in August 1957. The following Sunday, she was married to Jimmy, and they moved to College Station, where he was in graduate school at Texas A&M. There, she worked at the B’Nai B'rith Hillel Foundation, an organization for Jewish students.

Following his graduation, Jimmy took a job at the O’Donnell, Texas, Coop gin until April 1958, when he got a job as the manager of South Gin Coop in Brownfield, Texas. Both sons were born during this time. While her children were young, she worked as a bookkeeper for a farm supply store and an account collector for a local doctor. When her youngest son began first grade, she applied to be a substitute teacher. That led shortly to a job as a second-grade teacher.

When the family moved to Lubbock in 1970, she became a counselor at Matthews Jr. High School, where she served for 23 years. She moved from there to Irons Jr. High School where she retired from teaching in 1994.

When she retired, she was the president of the Texas Counseling Association. She held leadership positions on a number of state and regional counseling associations, as well as serving on the Counselors Legislative Involvement Committee and the Texas Long-Term Care Oversight Committee. She was also a member of several state, regional, and local teacher organizations. Elaine definitely had a passion for counseling and for working with elementary and middle school children.

Elaine received many awards for her work in counseling, including the Texas School Counselors Association’s Rhosine Fleming Memorial Award for Outstanding Counselor of Texas in 1980. She also received the Angelo State University Golden Ex of the Year 2014.

Elaine cherished her family and spent a lifetime making memories with them, including lots of camping when the boys were younger, and lots of travel throughout the years.

She was preceded in death by her parents, C.A. (Doug) and EvaLena Fairbanks, and her brother, Ralph Fairbanks. She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Jimmy Nail; her two sons, Ron (wife Angi) of Lubbock, and Danny of highlands Ranch, Colorado; three grandchildren, Justin Nail (wife Elena) of San Antonio, Lindsay Woodard (husband Ronnie) of Crozet, Virginia, and Christian Nail of Highlands Ranch, Colorado; and one great-grandson, Wesley Woodard, of Crozet Virginia.

Elaine was a member of the Helping Hands Sunday School class at Calvary Baptist Church. Memorial gifts can be made to the Calvary Baptist Church Building Fund, the American Cancer Society, or the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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