Wanda E. Nelson

Wanda E. Nelson, age 94, longtime resident of the Clark, SD community, died on Thursday afternoon, June 18, 2009, at the Golden Living Center in Clark following a brief illness. She was the widow of Richard "Dick" Nelson. Funeral services will be held on Monday, June 22nd, at 10:00 a.m. at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Clark. The Rev. Wayne Gallipo will officiate and burial will follow in the Rose Hill Cemetery at Clark. Visitation will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Furness Funeral Home in Clark and prior to the service at the church on Monday. The organist will be Dorothy Fuller. The soloist will be Roger Nordhus singing "Just As I Am". The congregation will sing "How Great Thou Art" and "Precious Lord, Take My Hand". The active casketbearers will be her grandchildren, Bill Nelson, Tom Nelson, Matt Nelson, Kim Nelson, Jackie Van Deurzen and Marsha Gardner. The honorary casketbearers will be Winnie Ackerman, Myrtle Schrum, Ralph Peterson, William Jents, Ralph Johnston and Max Bjerke. Wanda born at Clark on April 30, 1915, the daughter of Lloyd and Laura (Bailey) Ackerman. She attended school at Clark graduating in 1932 from Clark High School. Following her high school graduation, she attended Northern Normal Northern University at Aberdeen and obtained her teaching certificate. She taught at Willow Lake from 1935-1936, Mt. Pleasant Township from 1936-1938 and then at Bradley from 1938-1940. On October 29, 1938 she was united in marriage to Richard Dick Nelson at the Crocker Lutheran Church. The couple lived at Bradley where they owned and operated Nelson Produce. In 1967 they moved to Clark. Dick continued operating the business until 1985. Following retirement, they continued making Clark their home. In the fall of 2001 they moved into the Fay Wookey Memorial Assisted Living Center. He died on February 26, 2004. Wanda has continued living at the Wookey Center until becoming a resident of the Golden Living Center earlier this month. She was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church at Clark where she was involved in various womens groups. Some of her fondest moments were spent on the Clark golf course of which she a member of for many years or at the Clark Lanes, recently becoming a member of the Clark Bowling Hall of Fame. Grateful for having shared in her life is a son, Gary (Roma Eneboe) Nelson of De Pere, WI, grandchildren, Bill, Kim, Matt and Tom Nelson and Jackie VanDeurzen; great-grandchildren, Kristin, Jessica and Alyssa, brother-in-laws, Bill Jents of St. Paul, MN and Max Bjerke of Bradley, SD and a sister-in-law, Winnie Ackerman of Clark. She also leaves many nieces, nephews and a host of friends. Preceding her in death were her parents and siblings, Lloyd Ackerman, Mavis Jents, Mable Redman and Alice Deslauriers.