Laura Elizabeth “Betty” Nehls, 97, US Army 1st Lt., Retired, of Hendersonville, N.C., formerly of Vero Beach, passed away on Jan. 28, 2016.
She is survived by her children, Nancy Nehls Nelson (Curtis Nelson) of Weaverville, N.C., George Robert Nehls, Jr. (Sherry Dewulf) of Esko, Minn., and Thomas Lawrence Nehls of Ft. Lauderdale; and her son-in-law Russell A. Rockwell of Port St. Lucie.
She was preceded in death by her husband George Robert Nehls; her sister Nancy Virginia Teeple; her brothers Robert McKee Teeple and Lawrence Holmes Teeple; and her beautiful talented daughter Mary Louise Rockwell.
Nehls was born in Baltimore, Md., on Dec. 20, 1918. Stationed stateside as a U. S. Army nurse at McCloskey General Hospital in Temple, Texas during WWII, she cared for German and Italian POWs as well as American amputee patients. During that time she met her future husband, George Robert Nehls, a young officer from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
After the war, they moved to Minneapolis, Minn., and raised their four children. In 1982, she and George left snowy Minnesota for Vero Beach where their interests and friendships blossomed. They lived in the Countryside Community for more than 20 years.
While her husband golfed, Nehls began her “second career” as an oil painter, traveling around Florida and to NM for painting workshops with her special teacher, Morgan Samuel Price.
After George’s death in 2005, she moved to North Carolina to be closer to her daughters and her brother, Robert Perry Teeple.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Brother Wolf Animal Rescue. P. O. Box 8195, Asheville, NC 28814 (www.brotherwolfanimalrescue.org).
A Celebration of Life will be held in Asheville, N.C. at a later time. She will be interned next to her husband at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. Please contact Cox-Gifford-Seawinds Funeral Home of Vero Beach (www.coxgiffordsea winds.com) with questions or for further information.
