After the Reddix children graduated with honors from Holmes High School and pursued higher education degrees, as well as meritorious careers, Nellie Reddix earned a degree in business administration with a specialty in management from Our Lady of the Lake University. She served as the Coordinator of Assessment for OLLU.
During her 11 years of service on the Northside Board of Trustees, Mrs. Reddix was a driving force in the push for instructional excellence. Programs which are deemed essential today did not exist until she began asking "Why not?" Mrs. Reddix worked to provide reading specialists, music and art teachers at elementary schools, and greater opportunities for girls in athletics. She also supported tax exemptions for senior citizens and saw to the reversal of a federal busing directive in 1975 by ensuring 'equal education opportunity.'
An advocate for strong parental involvement, Mrs. Reddix supported the Right to Read program and worked to relocate Mackey special education programs from the Hunt Lane facility to the Leon Valley campus.
With the construction of the Nellie M. Reddix Center, Northside ISD is in the forefront of educational improvement for students with special needs. A state-of-the-art facility, the Reddix Center is home to innovative special education programs serving students from Northside and the metroplex. The professional people employed at the Reddix Center have their true inspiration, Nellie M. Reddix, whose high expectations "just made good sense to do.
Reddix and her husband, Dr. Mason Reddix, a retired surgeon, had three children who graduated from Holmes High School, as well as seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Mrs. Reddix passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017.