Submitted by: Dan Rich

Naomi Nelson

Feb. 7, 1914 - Nov. 8, 2007

South Bend Tribune 11/18/2007
SOUTH BEND - Naomi Nelson, longtime South Bend resident, died on Nov. 8th in New Castle, Indiana. She was 93. Mrs. Nelson, born February 7, 1914, was the sixth and youngest child of George and Minnie Hildenbrand. She grew up in rural Kansas before the family moved to Topeka. She attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence where she lived in Watkins Scholarship Hall and majored in music.

She graduated in 1936 and that summer married Raymond E. Nelson, who had just completed his medical training at the same university. They moved to Beverly, Kentucky, in Appalachia, where Dr. Nelson was a medical missionary at Redbird Mission of the United Methodist Church, and then in 1941 to South Bend, where he opened a medical practice.

While Dr. Nelson served in the Army Medical Corps in North Africa and Italy between 1942 and 1945, Mrs. Nelson began to teach piano music to children. She continued with her teaching until 1981, when Dr. Nelson died. She took great pleasure in having her students share her love for music of all kinds, from the classics to jazz. She was a founding member of Chapter BX of the PEO Sisterhood and was an active member of the Memorial Hospital Medical Auxiliary, AAUW, Collectors' Clubs. Coquillard Woods Garden Club, Sunnyside Presbyterian Church (and, before that, Broadway United Methodist Church), the PTA of John Adams High School, and several book clubs. She accompanied her husband on many adventures by single-engine airplane and later on the boat they kept in New Buffalo, MI. As they grew older, Dr. and Mrs. Nelson spent several weeks each winter in a condominium on Longboat Key, Florida.

In 1988, Mrs. Nelson married Donald L. Adair. He preceded her in death in 1999. Since April 2003, Mrs. Nelson had lived in New Castle, first at Raintree Square Apartments and then at Glen Oaks Medical Center. She is survived by her son, Dr. Robert R. (Patricia) Nelson of Honor, MI; and daughters, Susan Nelson of Chicago and Janet (Terrill) Harvey of New Castle; by seven grandchildren, Cynthia (Steven) Likins, Michael (Cameron) Paynter, Laura (Steven Pearlman) Nelson, Charles (Liz Berger) Nelson, Matthew Nelson, Joel (Kelly) Harvey and Benjamin (Megan) Harvey; and by 12 great-grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held on Sunday, November 25, 2007, in the Sunnyside Presbyterian Church, 115 S. Frances St., at 2:00 p.m., with Rev. James Miller officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to services in the church. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a memorial contribution to Watkins Scholarship Hall in memory of Naomi H. Nelson, K.U. Endowment, P.O. Box 928, Lawrence, KS 66044.