Las Vegas family travels to Texas to give 75-year-old mom eclipse experience of lifetime

Brian Will
·2 min read

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A Las Vegas family moved heaven and earth to get their 75-year-old mother to see the eclipse in Texas.

“My daughter had seen the eclipse in Jackson Hole a few years back and when they talked about going to see the eclipse in Waco, I said I wanted to go too,” Nancy Killeen explained.

That is how it all started with a 75-year-old Las Vegas woman’s wish to see the eclipse.

Nancy Killeen’s family started planning this lifetime trip for their mother months ago. Their hurdle was she was bound to a scooter to get around because of severe osteoporosis. However, that wasn’t their only obstacle as the weather was another big factor.

<em>Nancy Killeen’s family started planning this lifetime trip for their mother months ago. Their hurdle was she was bound to a scooter to get around because of severe osteoporosis. However, that wasn’t their only obstacle as the weather was another big factor. (KLAS)</em>
Nancy Killeen’s family started planning this lifetime trip for their mother months ago. Their hurdle was she was bound to a scooter to get around because of severe osteoporosis. However, that wasn’t their only obstacle as the weather was another big factor. (KLAS)

“Being from Las Vegas and hearing about tornados was a little shocking for us,” laughed her son Brian Lenihan.

As the days inched closer the family kept going back and forth if they would go or not. They knew it had to happen. Their mother Nancy was always up for adventure having been a world traveler, she became a lawyer in her 40’s and started a business in her 50’s. Now her children: Brian, Kathleen, Maureen, and Peggy wanted to give her this experience.

Her story about this trip even made it into the New York Times as a guest essay written by her daughters Kathleen and Maureen. When Nancy made it to Texas and went to Baylor University’s eclipse event, she was recognized because of the article.

The family told 8 News Now that everyone they ran into from the airport to Baylor University was very accommodating to their scooter-bound mother. Even Baylor University Police helped her around the barricades and got her to her spot just in time.

After waiting for much of the morning in cloudy weather when it came time to see the eclipse the family said the clouds parted and they had a perfect view.

“It was cloudy in the morning and the clouds were intermittent but at the time of the total eclipse we had clear skies, and it was amazing,” Nancy Killeen said. “The week leading up to it was are we going or not going but it was well worth it.”

The family is waiting out the crowds and planning to return to Las Vegas on Tuesday. An unforgettable family adventure.

“They’ve been wonderful ever since I had to retire early, and my husband died. They have just been terrific,” Nancy exclaimed.

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