Gloria Nell McDowell

Gloria Nell McDowell, 87, of Clifton passed away Thursday, April 20, 2017 at Clifton Lutheran Sunset Home. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. Saturday, April 22, 2017 at First Baptist Church with Dr. Jerry Smith officiating. Burial will follow at Whitney Memorial Park. Visitation will be held from 6:00-8:00 P.M. Friday, April 21, 2017 at Clifton Funeral Home.

Gloria Nell McDowell was born on November 21, 1929 to Oscar Lee and May Belle (Croford) Schoonover on a ranch in Bosque County. She grew up in the McCown Valley area and attended Whitney schools, graduating in 1948. She was married and lived in Meridian prior to moving to Clifton in 1958. In her early years of nursing, she worked for Whitney Hospital and then Goodall-Witcher Hospital.

She was the Director of Nursing and Assistant Administrator for the Lutheran Sunset Home where she worked for 45 years until her retirement. During that time, she trained many young nurses and mentored others. She had attended nursing school and also received her administrator’s license and an Associate Degree from MCC.

She will be remembered for her indomitable spirit, her dedicated service to both families and residents in the Lutheran Sunset Home, and for her pride for doing a superb job in the field of nursing. Across the years, she worked with a number of different Nursing Home Administrators and mentored them as well. She saw the Lutheran Sunset Home go through significant changes in nursing and assisted living care and finally was a resident of the place she had given her life to as a caregiver.

She loved to travel and enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and was a grandmother to several of the neighborhood children. She was active as long as her health allowed her to be as a member of the First Baptist Church of Clifton. She was known to many as Mother, Granny Nell, Mrs. McDowell, Nell or just Mac.

She is survived by her son, Don McDowell of the Houston; daughter, Debbie McDowell of Buenos Aires, Argentina; grandchildren, Bryan and Megan, and one great-grandchild, Raegan Pringle, and many nieces, nephews and close friends.

The family will also receive a few visitors prior to the funeral service at the First Baptist Church Large Fellowship Hall.

Memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church of Clifton or the Alzheimer’s Association.

Condolences may be made at www.cliftonfh.com

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