Nancy Milholland was born May 13, 1920 to Dayton Alexander Whatley and Hattie Lucille Applewhite Whatley. Her mother’s family was from Caseyville, Mississippi and her father’s family was from Rayville, Louisiana.
Her father was in the lumber milling business. They moved to Morton, Mississippi to mill lumber when she was five. She grew up there. She was the youngest of 5 children. She had one brother, Hugh Whatley; and three sisters, Lucille Whatley Moore, Mary Whatley Turpin, and Eunice Whatley Gill.
She attended Morton schools and was proud to be a Panther at Morton High School. She loved their school colors Blue and Gold. Her best friend’s name was Dixie. She would always talk about the adventures of Nancy and Dixie.
After graduation she worked for the phone company in Morton just like her sisters had done.
Then Nancy moved to New Orleans to work at the phone company.
After World War II broke out she got a job at Camp Claiborne, a military base in Louisiana, where she met her husband William Paul Milholland. They married after knowing each other for three months because he was going overseas. He returned after the war and they moved to Dayton, Ohio to the home of her husband’s parents, Arnold and Bonnie Milholland. On April 25,1947 their first child, Twylah, was born in Ohio. On December 31, 1948 their first son, William, was born in Houston. On March 3, 1955 their daughter Nancy was born and on February 7, 1961 their son Robert was born in Houston.
William Paul Milholland died in 1966.
Nancy raised 4 children in the 1960’s on her own.
Her children were her top priority. Everything she did was for her beloved children. Nancy loved to travel and would take the kids on vacations every year. After her children were grown she did a lot of traveling with Twylah. They traveled up and down the East Coast and into Canada. At the beginning of each trip she would sing the Willie Nelson song, “On the Road Again”. She looked forward to the next trip even if they were in the middle of a current trip. She said it gave her something to look forward to.
She loved the Houston Texans especially JJ Watt. She adored the Texas A&M Aggies. She enjoyed Midnight Yell.
She lived on her own well into her 90’s. She was a very independent strong lady. She valued and guarded her great credit report. She was never late on a bill!
She loved to cook, but loved to go out to eat at Golden Corral, the Chinese Buffet, and her favorite Mexican food restaurant she called “Ed Wongs” (Eduardo’s Mexican Kitchen)
She was a faithful Christian from childhood. She attended Morton Methodist Church as a child and was a member of First Methodist Houston for many years. She loved to study her Bible and enjoyed the Women’s Bible Study at Calvary Chapel Houston and enjoyed the programs at First Baptist in Pasadena.