Renee (Reynolds) Mitchell

Renée “Ney” Reynolds Mitchell, age 71, passed peacefully on July 16 surrounded by her family. Renée was born in Mathis on July 31, 1947, as the first-born child to Joseph William Reynolds and Irona Jane Hudson Reynolds. She graduated from Orange Grove High School in 1965, and has maintained great relations with the home-town community that she loves, serving with passion for 4-H and the Jim Wells County Fair Association - she was honored to serve as Treasurer and two-terms as president and received a special dedication award for “faithful and devoted service shown through the years, and for always having had the utmost interest of the youth at heart.” The 75th JWC Fair was dedicated to her and riding as Parade Marshall was something she spoke about often - because she didn’t like the limelight, but realized others really thought she’d made good efforts for the fair.

There’s no question Renée was born a rancher’s daughter! She worked diligently to maintain the legacy of her beloved Ventana Ranch (founded in 1867). Ney was particularly proud to receive the Texas Family Land Heritage Program honors, recognizing 100+ years of continuous ownership and operation as a family agricultural enterprise. Ney set deliberate plans to ensure the land she passed to her husband and children can be enjoyed for generations to come. With her husband of thirty-eight years, Michael “Mike” Flynn Mitchell, she loved watching their grandchildren find pleasure in the spirit of maintaining their ranch life and the treasure of her ranch horses. Role modeling an unwavering respect for all animals, she never met a stray she couldn’t bring home - animal or human were always welcomed! Ney never locked her doors, always had a freezer full of ice cream and would pull on a Mexican dress and whip up the best breakfast, back strap, and/or steaks for a kitchen-full of family and friends. Ney’s other fancies were traveling, a little gambling here and there, the Dallas Cowboys and The Spirit of Aggieland.

Renée is preceded in death by her parents, Joe W. & Rona, and her only brother, George William Reynolds.

She is survived by her “Thundering Herd”: husband Michael Flynn Mitchell; children, Lisa (Steven) Francis of Virginia Beach, VA; Deborah Williams (Walter Rouse) of Orange Grove, TX; Rhonda Williams (Jim Koeller) of Helotes, TX; and John Joseph Williams of Orange Grove, TX; grandmother of: Jayna and Mitchell Francis, William and Wesley Baldeschwiler; Randee and Maddee Williams-Koeller, Brandi Villarreal, John Joseph Williams II, Ali, Tristan, and Braelyn Williams; great-grandchildren John Joseph Williams III and Janessa Ney-Marisol Williams; MiReyna, Jace, Cobi Villarreal; brother-in-law Joe (Becky) Mitchell; nieces Susan Galloway and Lori Wasthnagg; and Extra-EXTRA Special family members Shirley Lambert, Laura Hatton, Mary Tinney, Shanna Williams, Maria McGlothin, Scott, Lori and Savannah Kirchoff, Ashtun Hecker, Brody Alaniz, Lauren Herschap, Maverick Ochoa. In life and in death, we all LOVE YOU A WHOLE WORLD FULL, Ney!

Memorial Service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 20, 2019, at Holmgreen Mortuary, Alice, TX. Interment will follow at the Reynolds’ family cemetery in Orange Grove, TX.

In lieu of flowers and food, please consider donating in Memory of Renée Mitchell to either The Coastal Bend Community Foundation’s LCPL Colton Rusk Scholarship Fund at 555 N. Carancahua St., Suite 900, Corpus Christi, TX 78401 or online at cbcfoundation.org  OR to Eli’s Fund - via The Texas A&M Foundation’s Eli’s Fund, College of Development, 4475 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843; vetmed.tamu.edu/giving/opportunities/elis-fund).

Honorary Pallbearers are Jack Powell, Skeeter Tinney, Robert Murdoch, Dorian David, Gay Klatt, Lynn Kirchoff, Stacy Herschap, and Darrell Rusk.

My life’s been full, I savored so very much ...

Good friends, good times, all my loved one’s touches …

Know I will miss all these things, too …

But please don’t lengthen your pain with undue grief …

just make room in your heart and mind just for the joys we share …

and, look for me in the sunrise of tomorrow.

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