Nellie Daniel Oakley

Nellie was born in Denton, North Carolina. She moved to Florida in the 1940’s and started a family with her husband Roland C. Oakley. Together they had 4 children, and she became the beginning of a legacy of many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Nellie was full of life, laughter, and determination, anything she put her mind to she wouldn’t stop until it was completed. Her oldest, Gary, remembers camping with friends near a creek as a teenager and she would sneak down and make noises in the woods to scare them all just for a good laugh. Her son Ron remembers a time where she was left stranded on a roof around the age of 75 after the ladder fell and she had no way down. Thankfully she was able to yell to a neighbor for assistance. Later after the children decided they should hide the ladder she went and bought another so she could finish her work. Never leaving a job undone. She was steady, dependable and present with her children leaving them with a loving legacy to pass to theirs and those after them. Kaye holds dear the times when they would simply stop the car and just spend a few hours fishing, just the two of them. Nellie was a wonderful community figure and owned Oakley Jewelers before passing it to her son Ron and daughter Sherry. She was passionate about gardening and was known to grow beautiful orchids, Gerber daisies among many other flowers.

Nellie, affectionately known as “Memaw” to many was survived by her children and their spouses; Gary and Donna Oakley, Sherry and Ralph Gagnier, Ronnie and Donna-Joy Oakley, and Kaye and Mark Higgins. She is also survived by 7 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren as well as extended family and friends. Memaw was preceded in death by her husband Roland Oakley and her beloved grandson Daniel.

The family will be receiving visitors at 10:00 am followed by funeral services at 11:00 am on Tuesday March 7th, 2023, at Heath Funeral Chapel.

She gave us 100 years of love and laughter and we were all so blessed by her presence here and we know that she is resting peacefully in the arms of our Maker.