Ila (Mrs.Stayton) Nunn of Houston, Texas died on June 18, 1998 at the age of 96. She had been an active member of the Society for Louisiana Irises and the American Iris Society for over 40 years. She also belonged to several AIS Sections and she was a contributor to the book, The World of Irises. She was part of the group in Houston that organized the Spuria Iris Society. 

Ila gave numerous lectures on irises, especially Louisianas, to garden groups. She was active in the Texas Regional (R17) AlS organization and served as Vice President from 1957 to 1960. She was elected to the Board of the Society for Louisiana Irises in 1960, and Vice-President in 1962. She was awarded the SLI Service Award in 1962 for her work promoting Louisiana irises in the American Iris Society and through the Garden Club of Houston’s annual bulb mart each fall. 

Ila and her husband, Stayton, maintained a large show-type garden in Houston, where they grew many types of irises.

Ila Nunn was a Horticulture Judge Emeritus for the Garden Club of America and a Judge Emeritus of the American Iris Society. She taught judging schools on spurias, Louisianas and some of the lesser-known species and wrote articles for their publications. She attended most AIS conventions until recent years, and missed few of the Louisiana Iris meetings. She will long be remembered also by her namesake, ILA NUNN, the Louisiana iris hybridized and introduced by Charles Arny in 1967. It won the DeBaillon Award in 1972 and is in the ancestry of many modern Louisianas. 

Ila and Stayton Nunn were both graduates of Rice Institute in Houston with majors in architecture. She is survived by a son and daughter, six grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.