Nina Catherine Walker McClung

Nina was born to be the 3rd child of James Gibson and Margaret Jane Garvin Walker on February 7, 1907 in Bazette Texas. She had one older sister and brother and 3 younger brothers; one of them being my dad. I know very little about her childhood in Bazette but I've imagined what I think it was like in my head. Whether it was or not, I envision it to be full of fun and laughter with her close knit family. Her dad had nicknames for all of his kids and "Nine" was hers. When she was 16 and a student at Kerens High School her father died very suddenly on December 23, 1923. I can't imagine the shock and grief she must have experienced. It breaks my heart for them as a family to have had that happen at all, but it must have been even worse at Christmastime. After he passed away, Nina's mother, Maggie built a house in Corsicana to live in, but also to use as a boarding house so she could make a living for her family. Maggie and 5 of her 6 kids moved to Corsicana, but Nina stayed behind in Bazette to live with an aunt and uncle so she could finish her senior year at Kerens. That had to be difficult for her, but she was tough, tough as nails.

After she finished school, she moved to Corsicana where she worked in a doctor's office and then at the Corsicana Hospital. In 1933 she married Jay McClung in a small ceremony at her mother's house in Corsicana. He ran the pool hall and they lived in an apartment just around the corner from her mom and sister Mollie. Jay and Nina never had any children.

After Maggie died, she and Jay moved in to the big house at 212 N. 18th Street with Mollie and they lived there the rest of their married life. I always remember Jay coming home to lunch every day and Nina would have it ready for him. He would tease her and she would call him "mister" and squint her eyes at him as if she were mad....but she wasn't. They loved each other and had lots of fun together. You could tell they liked each other. It showed. Jay died on December 7, 1979. It was the first time I ever remember seeing her cry.

After Jay passed away, she and Mollie lived together in the 212 house until Mollie became ill and bedridden. When that happened, Nina made the ultimate sacrifice and moved into a nursing home with Mollie so she could take care of her. Even though Nina could have stayed at home and taken care of herself, she chose to watch over her beloved sister. Their nursing home experience was a horror story and I can't imagine how much she must have hated being there, and yet she would never have left Mollie alone to fend for herself. After several months in the nursing home, Mollie passed away in June 1990, and Nina moved back home to the 212 house. She must have missed Mollie terribly but she was so happy to be back in her "roots." There, at 212, Nina lived alone in that big old house until she died 5 months to the day after Mollie.

Nina suffered from terrible back pain but she never complained about it because she was a tough cookie. She could be a little scary (just a little) but she was also kind and wonderful. When the clothing styles began to change and our skirts got shorter, she didn't mince her words when she told us our skirts should be longer. She loved her family and was especially fiercely protective of all of her brothers. She made the best pound cake, orange sherbet, lemon cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies and chicken spaghetti in the world. She was very unassuming and loyal and I loved her.

When we were visiting Corsicana in the summer as little girls, I remember she was always the last person in the car every Sunday morning on our way to church. She'd walk out the back door of the house with her purse on one arm and a hand full of lotion in her hand as she walked down the sidewalk to the car. She'd get in the car and then put her lotion on her hands as we drove to church. It happened every single Sunday just exactly that way.

She loved to go for a car ride, we come by that from her I think, and she'd take us downtown to buy a sody water (coke or DP) from the store. Yep....we come by a lot of our habits from her I think.

She loved her family so much and honored her mother all the days of her life. She was opinionated (I can't relate to that) and firm in her beliefs. She took care of 212 while Mollie and Jay worked and kept it spic and span, sadly I didn't inherit that trait from her. She also had her little old ladies around town she would grocery shop for and look after. She took us with her a few times when she'd go check on the ladies and we watched her serve others by example. She had a servant's heart.

She was grand.

There will only ever be one Nina Walker McClung. She was fantastic and I love her and miss her even today. She was another jewel in our crown of a family. I've said many times God did an excellent job putting all of us together. I'm so grateful to have had her in my life to learn from and love and be loved by her.

What an awesome example of love for us as we grew up.


























Just for a little more time with her would be wonderful.