School & Community News

Willa Ray Clark Podgornoff

Willa Ray (class of 1964) graduated from Texas Woman's University, with a degree in nursing. She worked in the Texas Medical Center-Houston before joining the US Army in 1971 as a captain. She volunteered to serve in Vietnam. She served in the Army for 21 years and reached the rank of Lt. Col. Willa Ray earned her Masters Degree from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wa., while stationed at Ft. Louis. After retiring from the US Army, she worked in home healthcare. She moved back to Houston in 2000, and continued working in the nursing field. She finally retired in 2013 as school nurse in the Houston suburban area. She died in 2019 and was buried with full military honors next to her parents and grandparents in Memorial Oaks Cemetery in Port Neches, tx.

Alex "Bud" Powell Passed Away

Bud Powell graduated from NHS in 1957. He married Janice Cherry, who also graduated from NHS in 1957. He was a shop teacher at NHS for many years and his wife Jan Cherry Powell worked in the Food Service Dpartment in NISD. Bud passed away on Saturday night, March 27, 2010, after battling brain cancer.