Nelwyn Ducomb

Nelwyn “Nel” Morvant Ducomb, age 100, of Kiln, passed away peacefully, December 22, 2021, in Gulfport.

Nel, as she was known by her many friends, was born April 10, 1921, in New Orleans where she graduated from Sophie B. Wright School for Young Ladies and studied art at the Rabouin School.

Her love for art spanned Nel’s entire life and she produced hundreds of works in just about every medium.

In her late teens she was a fashion illustrator with The Times Picayune and graphic artist for several New Orleans retailers.

Nel married Wayne Ducomb and moved to Los Angeles. When World War II erupted, she was a volunteer neighborhood air raid warden while her husband served in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

A few years later they moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast where Nel was a free-lance artist and published the 1958 Bay St. Louis centennial magazine that inspired them to form Mississippi Monitor Publications, Inc.

For more than 25 years their Bay St. Louis company produced magazines for southern Mississippi regions and promotional publications for cities and ports.  They also published brochures and designed displays for area businesses, institutions, special events and venues.

Nel was a Hancock County Chamber of Commerce vice president and secretary, creator and coordinator of international trade shows for Gulfport and Hancock County; founder and president of the Hancock County Art League; president, vice president and secretary for the Gulf Coast Advertising Club; charter member of the Coast Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America as vice president and secretary; and coordinator of exhibits and field trips for the Gulf Coast Art Association.

In retirement, she was an art instructor for more than 20 years and member emeritus of the art association. Nel and husband Wayne enjoyed spending time with their children and grandkids, gardening, ocean cruises and traveling the continental U.S. in their Ford Bronco.

Nel was a lifelong Roman Catholic. For several years she was a lector and charter member of the Ladies of St. Vincent de Paul of Annunciation Catholic Church, Kiln.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Wayne P. Ducomb, Sr.; their infant daughters, Kathleen and Laura Ducomb; mother, Angeline Pigniolo Morvant; father, Samuel D. Morvant, Sr.; and brother, Samuel D. Morvant, Jr.

Nel is survived by her children, Cheryl (Terry) D. Odell, Wayne (Elizabeth) P. Ducomb, Jr., and Nelwyn T. Ducomb; grandchildren, Terri (Marshall) Burlingame, Kathy (Robert Sulc) Fritz, Joseph (Katie) Fritz, W. Phillip (Mindi) Ducomb, III, Lauryn (Eric) Neas and Maggie Foster; great grandchildren, Timothy (Laura) Stanley, Jessica (Shane) Kewin, Shaelin and Aniston Fritz, Noah Ducomb and Owen Neas; and great great grandchildren, Josiah, Abram and Titus Stanley, and Marli Kewin.

The Ducomb family thanks Greg Sullivan and Tereasa Stuckey at Hearts and Home, Gulfport for their excellent attention and compassionate care they gave our mother.

Memorial donations are requested for the Friends of Hancock County Animal Shelter, www.friendsoftheanimalshelter.org; Library Foundation of the Hancock County Library System; Hearts and Home, LLC, 16116 Vick Rd, Gulfport, MS 39503; or St. Joseph Hospice, 1240 Broad Ave., Gulfport, MS  39501.

The visitation will be held on Thursday, December 30, 2021 at Annunciation Parish Adoration Chapel, Kiln at 10a.m. and the Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11a.m. Burial will follow in Bayou CoCo Cemetery, Kiln.

Riemann Family Funeral Home, 9113 Kiln Delisle Rd., Pass Christian is serving the family.