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MITCHELL -- Alma Nelle Cashion Mitchell born June 7, 1913 in Wesson, Mississippi, the third child of Daniel Newton Cashion and Beulah Olivia Connally Cashion. At an early age her family-parents. Brother, James and sister, Mildred- moved to Monroe, Louisiana. Through the untimely deaths of first her sister, then her mother and finally her father she was orphaned at the age of 12. She spent the years aged 12 through 20 at the Methodist Children's Home in Ruston, Louisiana when she graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 1933 at the height of the Depression. Over the next two years she taught school in Louisiana and in College Station, Texas ending up in Amarillo, Texas working for the U.S. government. She continued west arriving in Albuquerque in 1937 where she was employed as a bookkeeper with the Charles Ilfeld Company. As a young single woman she took up residence at Mrs. Barber's boarding house near the Albuquerque Public Library on Edith NE where she met Claude Stephen Mitchell who became her husband in 1938 in Taos. Casey Mitchell, born in Vinita, Oklahoma, was raised in Gallup, Las Vegas, and Roy, N. M. graduating from Roy High School and the attending UNM. During the Second World War while ?Casey? served with the Army Motion Picture Service in the Pacific, Nelle and their two children, Stephanie and Stephen, lived in Taos with Mr. Mitchell's mother, Fern Hogue Mitchell. The family returned to Albuquerque in 1952. Mrs. Mitchell joined the staff of the UNM Records and Admissions offices in 1952. She served as Supervisor of Records, Assistant Registrar and administered the relationships between the U.S. Selective Service and UNM students during the Vietnam war. She received a Selective Service Certificate of Merit from President Richard M. Nixon. Mrs. Mitchell retired from UNM in 1974. Following her retirement Nelle traveled extensively in the U. S. with her husband visiting 37 states. For a number of years she ran the Thrift Shop on north Fourth Street for St. John's Episcopal Cathedral. In 1987 she was received and feted by the mayor and city of Figeac, France, the town from which her Huguenot ancestor, Reverend Jean Casion, immigrated to Virginia in 1619. Mrs. Mitchell moved to Taos in 1988 and returned to Albuquerque in 1993 where she resided at Valle Norte Caring Center until her death. Nelle was an accomplished designer and seamstress and an ardent gardener, planning and maintaining extensive gardens at her home and at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral. She was a member of Zia chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a former President of the Wardrobe Workers Union Local. Mrs. Mitchell is survived by her daughter, Stephanie Lee Bennett-Smith of Vero Beach, Florida; and her son, Stephen Connally Mitchell of Chicago, Illinois; two grandsons, Brendan Terence Bennett of Johannesburg, South Africa and Graham Stephen Mitchell of Chicago, Illinois; and a great-granddaughter, Caitlin Ashley Bennett of Johannesburg. A Memorial Service will be held in the Chapel of St. John's Episcopal Cathedral, 318 Silver Ave. SW Tuesday, March 30, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. Interment will be on Saturday April 3, 2004 in the Riverview Cemetery in Monroe, Louisiana. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Unit 200 Activity Fund, Valle Northe Caring Center, 8200 Horizon Blvd., NE Albuquerque, NM 87113. Strong-Thorne Mortuary 1100 Coal Ave. SE 842-8800
        Published on: Tue March 30, 2004