Nelsen, Marvel J. (1923-2017)
NELSEN, EDINGER, PEARSON, SAUTER, LOWE, HOWARD
Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 5/18/2021 at 17:36:23
Marvel June Nelsen
June 27, 1923 - July 30, 2017Marvel J. Nelsen, age 94, of Newell, Iowa, died on July 30, 2017, at the Newell Good Samaritan Society in Newell.
Marvel June Nelsen was born to Herman and Florence Edinger in 1923 on a farm near Cathay, North Dakota. After completing her elementary education in a one room rural school, she attended and then graduated from high school in Fessenden, North Dakota, in 1941.
Marvel married Everett O. Pearson on May 29, 1942. Subsequently, they had three children: Marcia, Craig, and Barth. As a minister’s wife, Marvel served parishes in Montana, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois, and Iowa. Rev. Pearson, however, passed away in 1969.
After earning a Bachelor’s Degree from Aurora College in 1964, Marvel worked for the Houghton Mifflin Publishing Company in Geneva, Illinois, from 1964 to 1967. She, then, taught high school mathematics at the Fonda, Iowa, High School from 1968 to 1972. A member of the Newell First Congregational Church of Newell, she, also, served on the board of the Methodist Manor in Storm Lake, Iowa, for nine years from 1992 to 2000. A member of the PEO Sisterhood since 1958, she served that organization in various capacities. In addition, she had fun participating in the escapades of the Red Hat Society.
On January 21, 1973, Marvel married Robert J. Nelsen. For many years, they enjoyed taking part in the activities at the Newell Golf Course and spending their winters in Arizona.
Marvel loved to travel to see new sights and explore new places. She, especially, had fond memories of the many family vacations taken when her children were young. Moreover, she loved books and enjoyed reading a far ranging and diverse selection of material.
Marvel had fond memories of growing up on the family farm in North Dakota. She enjoyed telling stories about riding her pony, Dewey, swimming and sailing on the James River, and playing with her ‘cousins by the dozens’ at family get togethers. She, especially, liked to recall her childhood memories of Christmas. With the snow lying deep all around, her father would hitch a team to their bobsled with the horses decked out for the occasion with bobbed tails and sleigh bells attached to their harnesses. They would, then, make their way seven miles across the prairie to their country church. While in high school, she developed a love for singing and enjoyed participating in both a trio and a sextet. Later in life, she, still, enjoyed randomly breaking out with one of her favorite silly songs. She related many of her childhood experiences along with tales of her grandparents homesteading in what was then the Dakota Territory in a privately published book, “Down Home, Up North.”
Preceding Marvel in death were her parents; her first husband, Rev. Everett Pearson; her brother, Doran Edinger; her daughter, Marcia; her son, Craig; and her step-granddaughter, Lisa Nelsen Sauter. She is survived by her husband, Robert Nelsen, of Newell, Iowa; her son, Barth Pearson, of Pocahontas, Iowa; her stepson, Jim (Marilyn) Nelsen, of rural Albert City, Iowa; her stepdaughter, Marie (John) Lowe, of Bettendorf, Iowa; three step-grandchildren: Alan (Karna) Nelsen, Sally Lowe, and Heather (Rich) Howard; eight step-great grandchildren; and her sister-in-law, Sue Edinger; as well as by many extended family members and friends.
Memorial services will be held Thursday, August 3, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Newell. Burial will follow in St. John’s United Church of Christ Cemetery in rural Newell. Visitation will take place for one hour before the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Newell Public Library. Arrangements are with the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home of Newell.
Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Homes, Newell, Iowa, 2017.
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