Mary E. Nelson

Mary E. Nelson, 96 of Albion, NE died Thursday, October 7, 2021, at the Good Samaritan Society-Albion.

Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, October 18, 2021, at Zion Lutheran Church in Albion with Pastor Carolann Hopcke officiating.   Burial will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be held 4:00 -6:00 p.m. Sunday, October 17, 2021, at the church.

Levander Funeral Home of Albion, NE is assisting the family with arrangements.

Mary Elizabeth (Minnick) Nelson, daughter of W. Tiffany and Ethel (Simmons) Minnick was born in Omaha, Nebraska on January 14, 1925.  She grew up in Cambridge, Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in December 1945 with majors in English and Drama and where she was a third-generation member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. Immediately after graduation she moved to Albion, Nebraska in January 1946 to teach in Albion High School. In February 1946 she met her future husband, Leon S. Nelson, on a blind double date. He was the other woman's date. Leon had just finished his service in the army in Europe during WWII. They were smitten and were married a few months later June 23, 1946. They were married for 66 years before Leon's death in 2013.

Mary left teaching to raise her family, and then returned to substitute teaching as her children got older. As a mom she supported her children in all of their special interests, which ranged from sports to music to drama to academics. She would attend a junior high basketball game in the afternoon and a high school concert that evening. She never missed anything her children were in and expected and encouraged preparation and practice in all things. The rule was do your best, but perfection was not required.

The Albion Sale Barn business was a family affair. Leon was the auctioneer, Mary worked in the office. She was a founding member of the Nebraska Auctioneers Auxiliary, was president of the Auxiliary in 1963 and 1978 and was the first member inducted in the Auxiliary Hall of Fame in 2002.

Education was always her passion and in addition to teaching she served on the area Educational Service Unit advisory board for years. She was given a life membership in the Albion PTA for her years of dedication. She helped start the AFS foreign student exchange program in Albion and hosted students from Indonesia and Brazil in her home for their senior year in high school. In Albion she was a member and officer of Women's Club, Book Club, History and Art and was a founding member of the Albion Area Arts Counsel. The local chapter of PEO was a special love. She was a charter member of the Veteran of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and served as president and in other offices over the years.

She loved pink, Nebraska red, her roses, and her family.

Mary is survived by three children, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren: daughter Mary Lynne James of Steamboat Springs, Colorado (husband David, son John C. and wife Jamaiya, grandchildren Jensen and Lyla), son Christopher M. Nelson of Albion, Nebraska (son Matt and wife Stacy, grandchildren Piper and Ryker; daughter Sarah (Nelson) Scheer and husband Matt, grandchildren Kynlea  and Evelyn), and daughter Elizabeth Nelson of Murray, Nebraska (husband Richard Yoder, daughter Synneve Yoder, daughter Krista Yoder and partner Andrew Bell and grandson Leon); other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Leon, and brother Stewart S. Minnick.