Toni Nowlin, 76, of Bryan, passed from this life on Thursday, March 16, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bryan. A memorial service will be held at Callaway-Jones Funeral Home on Tuesday, March 20, at 10 a.m.
Toni was born Sept. 19, 1935 in Lubbock, Texas, to Joe Bailey Powers and Ruth C. Holmes Powers. She graduated from Hillcrest High School in Dallas and Killgore Junior College, where she was a member of the well-known Killgore Rangerettes dance team. She then earned a Registered Nurse degree from St. Paul’s School of Nursing, an affiliate of the University of Dallas.
In 1959 she married her high school classmate, Worth D. Nowlin Jr., and they moved to College Station that year. She worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital as an emergency room nurse and, in her “spare” time, earned a BA degree in philosophy from Texas A&M University, awarded in 1971.
Her more than 20-year career in nursing ranged from being the first nurse in Dr. William B. Roman’s practice in Bryan to the directorship of several local mental health entities, including the Alcohol and Drug Abuse program of the Brazos Valley Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center
From 1967 to 1969, Toni and her family lived in Springfield, Va., where she worked at St. Elizabeth’s Psychiatric Hospital. In 1969 she returned with her family to Bryan. In the summer of 1971, she volunteered as a nurse in the Four Corners area of the Navajo reservation.
In 1986, Toni moved to Houston, where she earned a paralegal certificate from the Southwestern Paralegal Institute. She worked as a paralegal at various law firms and medical colleges in Houston until her retirement in 1999, after which she returned to Bryan. Toni and Worth ended their marriage in 1988.
Beginning in the 1960s, she was an avid tennis player and played competitively throughout the remainder of her life. Following her retirement, she officiated at numerous tennis tournaments until overcome by ill health in 2010.
She is survived by a son, Keith E. Nowlin of Marshfield, Mo.; a daughter, Julie E. Snook of Bryan; grandchildren Keith A. Snook of Austin; Alexandra E. Snook of College Station; Ian A. Nowlin and Tristan E. Nowlin of Marshfield; and her aunt, Dani McFarlane of Austin.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to MHMR Authority of the Brazos Valley, P.O. Box 4588, Bryan, TX 77805.