Obituary of Nyla Bynum Wells

On June 13, 2020, just one month shy of her 98th birthday, Nyla Bynum Wells passed away peacefully in her sleep. She always loved birds and she knew that when her time came, she would take flight on golden wings to the great beyond. Nyla was born in Pomona, California on July 13,1922 to the most loving and kind parents, Myrtle and Preston Bynum. Right away they knew that she was a very special child, bursting forth into this world with energy, creativity, a sunny disposition and a strong will that would sustain her and bring her courage during life’s darkest challenges. She graduated from Pomona High School where she was a lively and spirited cheerleader and was so very popular and loved amongst her classmates for her kind and generous heart. After high school she graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara and from there went on to UCLA to pursue a Masters degree in Physical Therapy. She was one of the first students to graduate from the new Physical Therapy program offered at UCLA. During WWII she traveled to Dallas, Brooklyn and other cities where she specialized in treating victims of the polio outbreak. Nyla spent her entire life helping, healing and caring for people both in her career and in her personal life, continuing to work as a well respected Physical Therapist for more that 35 years. After the war she met a dashing Navy fighter pilot and true war hero, Art Wells, who had returned home to attend the University of California at Santa Barbara. They were married on May 29,1949 and they had three wonderful children, Mark, Michelle and Kathy. Art’s career took them to Phoenix, AZ, Hermosa Beach, CA and Piedmont, CA, and in 1983 they finally both retired in the charming beach town of Aptos, CA where Art and Nyla lived healthy, happy, blissful lives for more than 30 years. Nyla devoted these years in Aptos to volunteering at Habitat for Humanity, Mental Health Alliance, as well as endlessly supporting so many friends with acts of kindness beyond measure. Throughout her life her contagious joy and laughter left everyone who knew her better for it; happy, optimistic and uplifted. Nyla had a flair for interior design, gardening, painting, cooking, mosaic work. Her creative talents were boundless. There are no words to sum up Nyla’s life. At best, one might say she was a beacon of light and love, forever guiding all who knew her and unknowingly, many who didn’t. For those of us she has left behind, she has written these words in the sand at her beloved Rio Del Mar beach, in her beautiful unmistakable handwriting, Cherish Everyday; words we may always look for, because they will never wash away. Nyla was preceded in death by her parents, Preston and Myrtle Bynum; her son, Mark P. Wells; her husband, Arthur B. Wells; and her brother, Eugene P. Bynum. Nyla is survived by her daughters, Kathy Wells; Michelle Wells Grant and her husband Michael L. Grant; her granddaughter, Elizabeth Grant Rothman and her husband David C. Rothman. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Habitat for Humanity, www.habitat.org or National Alliance for Mental Illness, www.nami.org.