Thomas H. Nance

Thomas H. Nance, Jr. died August 27, 2016, at the age of 92. He was born November 3, 1923, on a ranch west of Kyle near the Blanco River in the same house (originally a log cabin) where both his father and grandfather were born. He was the first of three children born to Thomas Hardy Nance and Dorothy Davis Nance. The Nances were a pioneer family in Hays County.

He graduated from Kyle High School in 1940 at age sixteen and attended Southwest Teachers College and Texas A & M College before volunteering for service in WWII. He served in the Army Air Corps as a P-38 fighter pilot with the 82nd Fighter Group in Foggia, Italy, flying over the Alps to bomb bridges and railways to isolate the German Army during the Po River Valley campaign.

After the war, he attended the University of Texas where he met his future wife. He received his BBA degree in accounting. He also attended law school. He practiced accounting as a CPA for over 40 years.

Tom was an avid tennis player and lettered in the sport at the University of Texas. He was ranked in the top ten in Texas for many years from 1950 to 1980. He was very competitive and never gave up, a trait which earned him the nickname "Tenacious Tom Nance". He and his wife have attended Wimbledon, the French Open Tennis tournament in Paris and the US Open in New York City.

Tom was very active in the University Baptist Church, serving as a deacon, Sunday School teacher and on many committees. He also served as church treasurer.

Tom was a man of honesty and integrity and was a true gentleman. He was greatly admired by his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and will be remembered as a faithful and loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather who was always devoted and concerned for his family.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents, his two sisters, Dorothy Ann Nance and Flora Roberts and an infant son, Blake. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Mildred (Midge) Hensarling Nance, and by their three children, Katie Harrell and husband Phil, Amy Preuss and husband James and David Nance and wife Anne. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Damon, Kristen and Bradley Harrell and wife Sarah; Tiffany Sharp and husband Jonathan; Zachary and Alexandria Nance; and Eric and Andrew Rhyne and by five great grandchildren, Tyler, Ashley and Alyssa Sharp, Shelby Harrell and Eleanor Harrell. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.

There will be a private burial at Austin Memorial Park. A memorial service will be held Saturday, September 3, at 1pm at University Baptist Church, 2130 Guadalupe Street. Parking in Calloway House garage on Nueces between 21st and 22nd streets. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to University Baptist Church, 2130 Guadalupe St., Austin, TX 78705, to Texas Home Health Hospice, 3520 Executive Center, Suite 320, Austin, TX 78731 or to Down Home Ranch, 20250 FM 619, Elgin, TX 78621.