Juanita “Nita” Moreland was the founding editor of Wellington’s first newspaper, the Wellington Hi-Lites. She and her husband Carroll established the “Little Marshalls” in Wellington, an organization designed to instill ethics and community in preteen and teenage boys, many of whom went on to careers in public service. She was past president of the Rebecca’s and worked to establish an annual parade in Wellington. Her husband was the town marshall in the mid-1960s.
Nita was born July 8, 1924, to Charles James Wilcox and Evelyn Larson Wilcox in Corsicana, Texas. She graduated from high school in Madill, Okla., and joined the U.S. Navy WAVES in 1944, serving until 1946. She was one of relatively few WWII women veterans.
She attended photography school in Dallas and also trained as a pilot. She set up her own photography studio in California, which which provided conventional as well as aerial photography. Nita was an accomplished photographer, artist and pilot. She was married to Carroll C. Moreland in 1960 and out of this union was born one daughter, Jennie.
She lived in Texas, Oklahoma, California, Illinois, Indiana and Colorado. She loved the outdoors, especially the Colorado Rocky Mountains. She loved animals, reading, and corresponding with old friends and relatives.
Nita was a Christian by faith and went home to be with the Lord on Dec. 22, 2013, in Clifton, Texas, where she was a resident of the Lutheran Sunset Home. She was 89 years, 5 months and 4 days of age.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Carroll C. Moreland; stepson Stanley Wayne Moreland; both parents and two brothers, Charles James Wilcox and Harry Neal Wilcox.
She is survived by her daughter, Jennie; step-daughter and son-in-law Dolores Ann and H. C. Shaw; daughter-in-law Charlotte Moreland; brother Robert Wilcox; sister Bonnie Jane Wilson; 10 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, 10 great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandchild; numerous nieces, nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.
Nita’s final resting place will be in Lyons, in her beloved Rocky Mountains.
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