Nita McMinn Helmer

Nita McMinn Helmer left this Earth on February 22, 2022 to rejoin her dear husband, Otice Z. Helmer.  Nita was born on June 6, 1924 in Corsicana, Texas to Perce Vernald and Sybil M. McMinn.  She was a fifth generation Texan and she spent her formative years in San Angelo, Texas.

Nita received her B.S. degree and M.S. degree in education and counseling from Texas Tech, as well as her certification as an educational diagnostician.  She continued her education with studies two summers at Christ Church, Oxford University, England.

Nita was a world traveler and not just your average traveler.  She climbed mountains in Africa to sit with gorillas, she crawled across the ice to view the birth of baby white seals with her granddaughter.  She visited the Earth’s continents from the Antarctic to the arctic.  There were also many lovely trips to Alaska, Israel, Egypt, the Sinai to climb Moses Mountain, African safaris, as well as family reunions in England, Germany, and France with her two beloved granddaughters.

Nita had a great interest in genealogy and it resulted in numerous memberships in heritage societies, such as the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the Confederacy, First Families of Texas, Americans of Royal Descent, Order of Three Crusades, Dames of Court of Honor, Huguenot Society, Order of Crown of Charlemagne, Descendent Member of Knights of the Garter, Windsor England Colonial Dames of the XVII Century, and Order of the Merovingian Dynasty are but a few of the well over thirty societies in which she held membership.

Nita was a retired diagnostician with the Midland Independent School District and a life member of the PTA.  She served on boards for Family Services, Midland Woman’s Club, and held memberships in Tejas and Midland Garden Clubs, Republican Women, Petroleum Pioneers, Permian Basin Geological and Geophysical Auxiliary, Texas Women’s Alliance, Austin, Texas and Midland University Women.

Nita was preceded in death by her husband, Otice Z. Helmer, in 1984 in Rennes, France and her daughter, Sibyl Ann Helmer Morrison, as well as her parents, Perce V. and Sibyl R. McMinn of San Angelo, Texas.

Survivors include a son, Dr. Otice Z. Helmer and his wife Brenda of Fort Worth, Texas; one daughter, Deborah Knorr of Dallas, Texas; grandchildren, Charlotte and husband James Price and Christanne Knorr; great grandchildren, Evangeline and Austin Price.

A memorial service will be held for Nita M. Helmer at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, April 30, 2022 at Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home Chapel.  Burial services will be in Arlington National Cemetery in the crypt of her late husband, Otice Z. Helmer.  The family will accompany their mother and grandmother to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, DC.

If desired, memorials may be made to Grace Lutheran Church, Midland, or to Happy Hill Farm Academy, HC 51, Box 56, Granbury, Texas 76048.

Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Midland.  Online condolences may be made at www.npwelch.com.