Nell Hammond

Catherine “Nell” Hammond passed away on August 5, 2022 at the age of 82 years old. She was born on December 13, 1939 to Lester and Jewell Colwell in Clovis, New Mexico, who preceded her in death. She was the youngest of four children.

She was blessed with Shirley Temple curls. She loved to romp around with the family horse and any other animals the family had. She loved animals and always had a dog by her side. She always had a big smile and infectious laugh to share. At 18 she married the love of her life, John Harry Hammond, on July 4, 1958. They had a simple wedding in her parents’ home and loved to share that they borrowed her dad’s car and with a $1.00 in their pocket, they had a great wedding night of a drive-in dinner and watching the stars.

Nell adored her parents and showed her love by cooking and baking for them, her specialty was her pies and perfect pie crust. John was in the Air Force, so they lived in many places, including Oregon, Mississippi, North Carolina, California, Turkey, and Idaho. They had four children; Teri Jo (Lysle) Gaylin, June (Mike) Dress, John (Tammy) Hammond, and Jerry (Lysa) Hammond, eight grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. The Hammonds loved to camp a lot. John even made a homemade cabover camper called the Hammond Hide-a-Way, but he didn’t put in any windows! When it was time for bed and the door was shut, Nell jumped out of bed in lightning speed to open the door as she was quite claustrophobic.

Nell was an amazing seamstress. She took Stretch and Sew lessons early on so she could sew shirts and dresses for us. She loved to cross-stitch and taught anyone who was interested. She loved her coffee, she would drink it all day and would add ice if it was hot out. She would laugh when someone would mistake it for pop! She was a whiz with crossword puzzles! She loved being a Suzy Homemaker. Her delicious homemade dinners were on the table every night at 5:30! She cooked, baked, cleaned, and sewed like no body’s business. Besides being a stay-at-home mom, she babysat some very sweet babies for pocket money. Many share the story that she spent her earnings to sew their child cute clothes. She was lovingly known as the Ruby Lady, for the many pieces of ruby jewelry John would buy for her!

Nell was quite the trooper, often going on four-hour hikes with her grandkids. When John passed away in 2000, she bought a tent trailer and would pack it up and go camping often! She was quite determined to get out and have fun! And OH did she LOVE shopping at the Christmas bazaars! She loved to decorate for every holiday, especially Christmas! She is survived by her four children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, sister Nona Turner, and brother Gary Colwell.

She is preceded in death by her husband John Harry Hammond and brother Bruce Colwell.