Nelda McQuien Laney

Nelda McQuien Laney

June 7, 1943 - August 24, 2016 

Nelda McQuien Laney, Hale Center, died Wednesday, August 24, after a courageous battle with an inoperable brain tumor.

The family will receive friends and family at Venue on Broadway, Friday, August 26 from 5:00 pm to 7:00pm at 2202 Broadway, Lubbock. Services will be held Saturday, August 27 at 2:00 pm First United Methodist Church with a reception following. Interment will be at 11:00 am, Tuesday, August 30, 2016 at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin for family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Nelda Laney Memorial Fund with proceeds to support organizations near and dear to her heart, c/o Centennial Bank, P.O. Box 2188, Lubbock, TX 79408 or any Centennial Bank location or charity of your choice.

Nelda was born in Garza County, June 7, 1943 to Helen and John McQuien. Preceded in death by her father John, her brother Larry and a son James Laney.

She graduated Plainview High School in 1961 and with honors from Texas Tech University, where she met her husband James E. "Pete" Laney. Married for 53 years, Pete and Nelda are survived by her mother, Helen, three children KaLyn Laney of Austin; Jamey and Ronald Phillips of Lubbock and J Pete and Melonie Laney of Austin. The Laney's have six grandkids: Austin, Grant, Gavin, and Holden Phillips of Lubbock and Clayton and Kendall Laney of Austin.

A devoted daughter, wife, mother and grandmother to her family, Nelda touched the lives of countless others in her role as surrogate mom and grandmother. A driving force and champion in everything she undertook. She served as National President of the Texas Tech Alumni Association and Chair of the Merket Alumni Center expansion.

She created a series of collectible Texas Capitol ornaments for the continued preservation and educational programming of the Capitol. Between 1996 and 2002, Nelda handled all phases of the project and sold more than 300,000 ornaments generating more than $2 million for the Texas Statehouse. She continued creating ornaments for countless other organizations including a collectible series for Keep Texas Beautiful for last 12 years raising close to $1 million in revenue

She served on the boards of: The Texas Book Festival; Friends of Texas Library and Archives, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Greater Texas Community Partners.

Nelda was a member of numerous organization including Kappa Alpha Theta, the Omega Delphi Study Club, and Caprock District Women's Club. She served as co-chair of the Capitol Fund Drive, which raised private funds for furnishing the renovated Texas Capitol, and as vice chair of the Texas Capitol Restoration Celebration.

Nelda was honored with the Lauro F. Cavazos Award by the Texas Tech Alumni Association, was a Texas Tech University College of Education Distinguished Alumni and was the first recipient of the "Woman of Achievement" Award from the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs. She also received a Special Recognition for her work on the Capitol Restoration by the Texas Women's Alliance. And was a recipient of the Star of Texas Preservation Award for Capitol Restoration. She has been named Woman of the Year in Plainview and Hale Center, inducted into the Future Homemakers of America Texas Hall of Fame and honored as a Lifetime Member of the Girl Scouts.