American newsmaker, the First Lady of Texas from 1963 to 1969. She was the wife of John Connally, who served as Governor of Texas and later as Secretary of the Treasury.
She and her husband were passengers in the Presidential limousine carrying President John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963. The President and Governor Connally were shot, resulting in fatal wounds to the President and serious wounds to Governor Connally. Mrs. Connally got down in the car to take care of her husband, who had slumped after the second shot.
In her 2003 book “From Love Field—Our Final Hours with John F. Kennedy,” Connally shared her personal diary of the event written in the days immediately after the assassination.
After serving as Texas’s First Lady, Connally worked to raise money for several charities including the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon for Hermann Children’s Hospital.
In 1988, Connally was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was treated and went into remission.
Nellie and John Connally were married at Austin on 21 December 1940. They had four children: Kathleen, John B. Connally III, Sharon, and Mark Madison. In 1958, the couple’s eldest child, Kathleen, committed suicide at the age of 17. The Connallys remained married until John’s death from pneumonia in 1993.
On 1 September 2006, Connally died in her sleep at the age of 87 at Austin, Texas.
Link to Wikipedia biography