Nina Ray Edwards, DHS Graduate

Nina Ray Edwards, 90, of Calera, Okla. passed away Monday night Jan. 11, 2010 at Texoma Medical Center in Denison.

She was born Feb. 14, 1919 in Preston Bend, and was the daughter of the late Grover T. and Grace Jackson Caddell. She attended Denison schools and was a Denison High School graduate. She married Roger Edwards in 1938 and he preceded her in death in 1983.

She was a homemaker and a longtime member of the First Baptist Church in Colbert. She was also preceded in death by a daughter Rebecca Kerney in 2005; a sister Lorene Linville in 1991 and a brother-in-law, Worley Linville in 2003.

She is survived by her son, Layne Edwards and wife Brenda of Calera, Okla.; son-in-law, Henry Kerney of Dallas; grandsons, Marcus Kerney of Dallas, and Brandon Shivers of McKinney; nephew, Danny Linville and wife Joan of Cobb, Okla., and niece, June Linville of Littleton, Colo. Numerous other nieces and nephews also survive.

Noel D. Wall, DHS Graduate

 As an executive with the federal government, a dedicated family man, and an avid rancher, Noel D. Wall never wasted a minute. He had high standards, and with every success, he looked for the next challenge. If he couldn't get something done as quickly as he'd hoped, he'd often say with a smile, "Time just ran out on me." The same could be said for the morning of New Year's day. Mr. Wall died at his home in Bells after a brave battle with ALS. Nancy (Monroe) Wall, his high school sweetheart and wife of 49 years, was by his side.

Mr. Wall was born in Sherman on Oct. 21,1938, and grew up on his parents' dairy, outside Pottsboro, milking cows every morning and evening. He met Nancy, the love of his life, at church, and they were married in 1960. To pay for her engagement ring, he joked that he had milked 12,000 cows.

After graduating from Denison Senior High School, where he was named "Most Dependable" in the senior class and received the Hi-Y Cup of Complete Manhood, he earned a business degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, in Durant, Okla., and a master's of public administration from the University of Oklahoma, in Norman, Okla. He was later named a distinguished alumnus of both Denison Senior High and Southeastern Oklahoma State.

Mr. Wall began his four-decade career with the Social Security Administration in 1960 and was appointed to his first executive level job at the age of 30. From 1985 to 1997, he served as the regional commissioner of SSA serving Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. This territory was later expanded to include Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Over the years, he won numerous honors for his leadership, including the Presidential Rank Award, which was awarded by President Bill Clinton, and the Ewell T. Bartlett Award for Humanity in Government, which he received in part for his tireless efforts after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, in Oklahoma City, where sixteen SSA employees lost their lives.

His commitment to helping others extended beyond his government service. Mr. Wall was on the Texoma Regional Advisory Council on Aging and was active at Western Heights Church of Christ, where he served as an elder for nine years. Yet he was as comfortable in his Wranglers and boots as he was in a suit and tie. He had a lifelong love of horses and especially enjoyed raising and showing cutting horses. And he passed his love of the outdoors along to his six-year-old granddaughter Madeline, whose pony, Dandy, is named for Mr. Wall's father.

Mr. Wall is survived by Nancy, their daughter Shelley Parks, of Plano, their daughter and son-in-law Noelle and Brian Sweany, of Sachse; his four grandchildren, Greg Parks and his wife Andrea, of Rowlett, Dustin Mitchell, of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Madeline and Colin Noel Sweany, of Sachse. He is also survived by his sister, Danna Beth Schleuse, of Denison, his cousin, Rick Fawcett, of Denison, his father-in-law, R.E. Monroe, of Denison, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Bob and Shirley Monroe, of Flower Mound, numerous nieces and nephews, and a life-long friend who was more like a brother, Frank Darrow and his wife, Irene, of Sachse. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Jennifer Wall Mitchell, his son-in-law Bill Parks, and his beloved parents, J.F. (Dandy) and Mildred Wall.