Juanita LaNelle Chapler Bennett

Nell passed away peacefully on April 9, 2026, just days before her 91st birthday. She was born on April 17, 1935, to Benny and Rena James in Quitaque, Texas. Her birth was just four days after Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, the most severe dust storm of the Dust Bowl era impacting the panhandle of Texas. The third of seven children, she spent her early years in various locations throughout the Weed and Crow Flats area.

Her transition into adulthood came early when she lost her mother at the age of nine and helped care for her younger sisters. She graduated from Weed High School and moved to Carlsbad to seek employment. She found employment at the local potash mines, where she met Roy Chapler Sr. and married him in 1956. They became members of Immanuel Lutheran Church. Together, they raised five children in their family home on Orchard Lane.

After the death of her husband in 1984, Nell married Richard Bennett in 1986. She continued to devote her life to family, helping raise her grandchildren and great-grandchildren until Richard’s passing in 2021.

Nell was preceded in death by her husbands, Roy Chapler Sr. and Richard Bennett, and her sisters, Donnie Snow and Faye Munson.

She is survived by her sons, Roy (Dana) Chapler and James (Vickie) Chapler; her daughters, Connie (Mark) White, Mary (Ricky) Howard, and Suzanne (Jimmy) Ballard; her brother, Benny Ray James; her sisters, Candie Lewis, Joy Lewis, and Junie James; 11 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; and 2 great-great-grandchildren.

Nell lived a full and adventurous life, guided by her deep love of family, appreciation for the beauty around her, and passion for helping children grow and thrive. She had a strong and generous spirit that touched many lives, offering kindness and steady support to all who knew her. She will be remembered with great joy by those whose lives she enriched.

Visitation will be at 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM, Sunday, May 10, 2026 at Denton-Wood Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM, Monday, May 11, 2026 at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 901 N. Halagueno, with Pastor Karl Wright officiating. Interment will follow at Sunset Gardens Memorial Park, Carlsbad, NM. A luncheon will be served afterward in the church fellowship hall. Denton-Wood Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Pallbearers will be Nell’s grandsons and great-grandsons.

Donations in her memory may be made to Immanuel Lutheran Church.