Glenna Lou Packard

On Sunday morning, November 30, 2025, our beloved Glenna went home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ surrounded by family at home in Las Cruces after four years of pancreatic cancer treatments, a stroke earlier this year and a recent partial hip replacement, persevering and finishing with a smile.

 Glenna was born on June 30, 1941, the eldest of four children to Audie and Naomi (Keeton) Rice in Peggs, OK. In 1947, the family moved to Guymon, OK. Glenna graduated from Guymon High School in 1959, third in her class giving the invocation at the graduation ceremony. She attended Panhandle A&M College (now OPSU) in Goodwell, OK, graduating in 1963 with a major in English and minor in history. Throughout college she worked various jobs at the Knutson Elevators, county assessor’s office, Guymon Public Library and the college bookstore.

 In August 1963, Glenna began teaching English, French and reading in Walsh, CO at the Jr. and Sr. High schools, also participating as co-sponsor of the Pep Club. This is where she met Glenn Packard and, in a year, they were married on May 28, 1967 at the Free Will Baptist Church in Guymon, OK. In June, she moved to El Paso, TX and began teaching English at Parkland High School until she resigned in December 1969 to start a family, giving birth to a daughter Julanne in 1970. In 1973, they moved to Las Cruces, NM and planted a 5-acre hobby farm of pecan trees. A son Derek was born in 1974 and they added more farmland with more pecan trees. She worked as a classroom aide and librarian from 1982 until 1996 at Mesilla Valley Christian Schools. 

In retirement she split her time between homes in Las Cruces and on Horse Creek outside of Walsh, working alongside Glenn in the pecan orchards and organizing the library at Walsh Baptist Church. She loved working outside, collecting and reading books, journaling, and enjoyed listening to music, especially hymns.

 Glenna was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Glenn Packard; daughter Julanne (Dean) Dahlquist; son Derek (Virginia) Packard; grandchildren Joseph Packard and Naomi Packard; sisters Joan (Jerel) Brooks and Sharon (Joe) Watson; and brother Dwight (Karen) Rice.