Nancy Pearl (Jeffries) Nelson

Born the sixth daughter of the late Samuel and Lillian Wadley Jeffries, Nancy Pearl would make her entrance into this world on the 29th March 1939 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Nancy Pearl was named after her late father’s sister and would be called “Nan, Pearl, Aunt Nan, and Nancy Pearl” by those who loved her.

She accepted Christ at an early age and would soon leave Mississippi to live with her older sister Willie Mae Singer in Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from John Hay High School and married. From that union five children were born Quinette James, Reana Nelson, Shoshana (James) Wright, Rochella (Jeffery) Thompson, and Olin Jeffries (Bridget) Nelson.

Nancy worked for The Cleveland Board of Education and was affectionately called the lunch room lady by all the neighborhood children. She would eventually leave the Board of Education and begin her employment at MetroHealth Systems where she would later retire with 25+ years of service as a surgical transporter.

She was a member of good standing at Providence Baptist Church where she kept her faith refreshed until she relocated to Killeen Texas and became a member of Marlboro Heights Missionary Baptist Church where she faithfully attended giving praise and honor to God.

She is preceded in death by her parents as stated above, her five brothers Avant Jeffries Sr., Edgar Jeffries Sr., Roosevelt Jeffries, Samuel Jeffries Jr., and Grant Jeffries and five sisters Mary Alice Jones, Willie Mae Singer, Addie Finley, Celia Mae Jeffries, and Viola Thurston. She leaves to mourn her sister Lula Kate Nunnally of Memphis, TN. and her five children: Quinette(Leroy-deceased) James of St. Petersburg, FL; Reana Nelson of Killeen, TX; Shoshana (James) Wright of Killeen, TX; Rochella (Jeffery) Thompson of Cleveland, OH; and Olin Jeffries (Bridget) Nelson of Killeen, TX; along with her ten grandchildren: Cleveland Tolliver, Michael & Keith Balfour, Jeffery Jr., Jonathan, & Jermaine Thompson; James Jr., & Yolanda Wright; and Brianna Smiley & Obraylin Nelson; her 25+ great grandchildren and her one great-great grandson Aiden Tolliver. There is also numerous relatives, friends and associates grieving the passing of this lovely soul. So we celebrate her smile, her laugh, her spice.