May Nell Miles Machen, who was born November 27, 1934, passed peacefully from this life to the next on April 28, 2025 at the beautifully-lived age of ninety in her beloved city of San Antonio, TX. May Nell was born and raised in Jackson Parish, Louisiana, the third child of Floyd Pierce Miles and Sybil Barnhill Miles. As a child she was lovingly dubbed by her parents as the "sickly" child after having survived, not one, but two very serious bouts of rheumatic fever in elementary school. May Nell thrived though, and excelled in school, ultimately graduating in less than three years from Louisiana Tech University, earning her bachelor's degree in secondary education. She was a popular and much-respected teacher in Louisiana for more than twenty years.

May Nell and her husband, Glenn Machen were childhood sweethearts from the moment Glenn appeared out of nowhere to hold the water fountain for a pretty and shy May Nell Miles in the eighth grade. They were just 19 and 20 when they married in 1953.  Glenn died at the age of 63 in December of 1996, but previously they suffered the tragic loss of their first born son, William Glenn "Shane" Machen in July of 1970 in a terrible accident. It was a devastating loss to them both and one from which neither of them ever fully recovered, but it was a complicated and inextricable bond they shared deeply and lovingly through many difficult times and ultimately to the very end of their unique love story.

More than ten years after the passing of Glenn, May Nell met a tall Texan in Sunday school by the name of Dean Neugent. They were married in 2007 and had ten important years together before he passed in 2017. Dean is buried in San Antonio next to his wife of 43 years, Floydell. May Nell will be laid next to her beloved Glenn. Dean and May Nell were good for each other, loving companions, treasuring each other, traveling, and sharing many fun experiences in their golden years of love anew.

As a devout Christian woman, she devoted her life to the teachings of Jesus Christ, always trying to be and do better in every way she could. She never stopped learning and improving. Never did May Nell need to hold a hymnal at church, knowing every single lyric and line of every song by heart. A reader and a writer, her bible was always near and certainly her most favored book, not to mention the fundamental thread throughout of all her written work and journaling. She was exceedingly slow to anger certainly, and famously gave a lot of leeway to those she loved, but she had what we call a "Miles temper," when justified, and was definitely someone whose patience and support you would not want to take for granted, or misuse.

Mimi, as she was known by her family and close friends, is survived by hers and Glenn's two other children:  Kevin Miles Machen and spouse Brenda of San Antonio, TX and Tara Marie Machen along with her fiancé Joe Raucci of Tavares, FL. She loved to muse about all of her much-beloved grandchildren, of which she had four:  Shane and Jessica, (children of Kevin and Theresa Johnston), and Louis Glenn and Sybil, (children of Tara and Steven Staglik). All together, her grandchildren include:  Shane Machen and his lovely wife of 21 years, Mandy Machen of Hondo, TX; their two adult sons, great grandsons, Glenn Machen and Austin Miles Machen along with Austin's beautiful partner, Trinity and their darling baby boy, great-great grandson Atlas, all of Hondo; Jessica Machen Hubbell and her wonderful husband Chance Hubbell of College Station, TX along with their sweet little ones, great granddaughters, Cora and Emily; and grandchildren, Louis Glenn Staglik of Baton Rouge, LA, and Sybil Staglik of Nashville, TN.

It was Mimi's great joy to get to meet and hold baby Atlas, her first and only great-great grandson, at her 90th birthday party late last year, and she beamed each time he joyfully visited her so many times in the final two weeks. She much adored her three surviving siblings:  Peggy DeGeneres, to whom Mimi spoke at least daily for decades, and her loving husband, Johnny DeGeneres of Baton Rouge; younger brother, Floyd "Bubba" Miles of Quitman, LA; and youngest brother, Thomas A "Tommy" Wilson and his most beloved wife Patsy of Bossier City, LA. Preceding her in death were her older sisters:  Dorothy Marie Brown and Louise Baxley Tankersly.

In spite of all of the exciting things she did or her own impressive accomplishments, she was most proud of her children and grandchildren. Their successes have meant far more to her than her own many wins. The greatest cheerleader and advocate of the family has left the building. Mimi was a matriarch among matriarchs and her enthusiasm, support, encouragement, and her overwhelming sense of grace, altruism, and unwavering pride for those she loved the most will leave a gaping void in so many of us. No one could champion a cause or defend a stance like Mimi. She used to say she would "fight a circle saw to defend one of my kids," and boy, did she mean it. That passion, that sharp wit and quick-thinking when someone needed defending was perhaps a missed career as a defense attorney. She used to advise her kids to use big or multi-syllabic words that their adversaries would have to go look up in the dictionary later. She kept active stacks of spiral notebooks with vocabulary exercises up until just a year ago. She was the absolute Queen of cutting out articles from the newspaper and if she gave you one, you knew you had better heed its message. She had Southern sass, laidback class, only a splash of flash, talked just enough trash to still be a respectable Southern lady of good quality, pink was her signature color, and she ended every conversation with "I love you more." Mimi highly recommends that all the women she knows and loves find one very important thing for themselves:  the audacity.

Shane, Mandy, Jessica, and Tara would like to especially thank Lily, Linda, Roberta, Rosie, and Joann from Persona Personal Care Home and Three Oaks Hospice for their dedicated and consistent care, ensuring comfort, kindness, and dignity to Mimi in every single moment of the last two weeks.

A small ceremony will be held at Fellowship Baptist Church, Quitman, LA on May 17, at 3:00 PM, officiated by Bro. Craig Stephens. In lieu of flowers, Mimi wishes donations be made to the Louisiana Baptist Children's home, a cause she consistently supported since the death of her dearest Shane in 1970. If you're attending, please wear something PINK.

Pallbearers include: grandsons, Shane Machen and Louis Staglik; great-grandsons, Glenn Machen and Austin Machen; nephew and favorite "little" brother, Tommy Wilson; and nephew, Lance DeGeneres.

You're the puzzle piece behind the couch that makes the sky complete. Godspeed, Mimi. We love you more.