Nancy Jane Widner

Nancy Jane Childress Widner, 96, of Odessa, passed away May 17, 2026, in Odessa. Friends and family knew her as Janie.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 pm, Wednesday May 27, 2026, at Sunset Memorial Funeral Home with Joe Phelps and Minton White officiating; burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens. Arrangements are made by Sunset Memorial Funeral Home.

Janie was born in Anson, Tx to Marjorie and Jack Childress on March 30, 1930, as the second of four sisters. She went to school in Odessa and St. Helena, Ca. She married Norman Long in Seminole, Tx and later married E.L. “Bud” Widner on October 24, 1953, in Hobbs, NM.

Janie worked at the City of Odessa, Odessa Country Club, District Clerks Office and the Odessa College Registrar’s Office, and later she was co-owner of the 8th Street Army Store.

Janie and her sisters remained devoted to each other throughout their lives and that closeness continues in their families today. Countless memories were made at Jack and Marjorie’s cabin at Lake Fort Phantom and those are still one of the favorite topics among the cousins. Bud and Janie also enjoyed going to their condo at Ruidoso, where Janie loved to ski and spend time with friends and family. She also loved her time in the 8th Street Army Store as it was truly a family affair. Janie and her daughter Jane volunteered for Meals on Wheels for several years. But no matter how busy, she always made time for garage sales and estate sales, looking for that special treasure. Other local bargain hunters will remember Cobwebs, an antique/resale/treasure store she and Jane owned in the late Eighties. Although small in stature, Janie was an avid motorcyclist (riding her own bike!), riding all over the U.S. and Mexico with Bud, Dane, Jane and Jimmy and many dear friends.

Janie is preceded in death by husband Bud Widner, son Alan C. Long and sisters Doris Childress Smith and Anita Childress Elms. Nancy is survived by daughter Norma Jane Seward and husband Jimmy, son Dane Widner and wife Bonnie, sister Jackie Bell, grandchildren Clint Seward, Mindy Taylor, Jeff Long, Nick Long, Paige Spangler and Brody Phillips, great grandchildren Tyler Seward, Jacie Seward, Remie Seward, Samantha Long, Ayden Long, Ella and Dylan Long, Ford and Brynli Spangler and great-great grandchildren Jameson and Finnegan Seward, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be given to the The Parkinson's Foundation, American Heart Association or American Cancer Society.

The family of Janie wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the Courtyards Memory Care and Heart to Heart Hospice.