Jane Elizabeth Nelson

RICHMOND, Ind. - After a day of visitation by friends and family, surrounded by loved ones, Jane Elizabeth Stillwagon Nelson died peacefully at Friends Fellowship Community, on Friday, October 26, 2012. Jane was born on Christmas Day in the year 1918 to Lavina Jean Heiderich Stillwagon and Frederich Otterbein Stillwagon in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. She attended New Kensington schools and upon graduation took a job as a legal secretary to a local attorney. Jane also was an accomplished tap dancer and taught the local children how to tap! Her next job would be for the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA), and through friends who also worked there and a desire to learn to play contract bridge, she met her future husband, David G. Nelson. They married on September 25, 1943, and celebrated sixty-nine years together. Jane and David moved to Richmond in 1947 along with many other families from New Kensington, when ALCOA opened a plant here. They joined the First Presbyterian Church and Jane was a dedicated worker in her church and enjoyed her church circle as well as anything else she could get involved in. She was a member of the Psi Iota Xi Sorority, the Tuesday Aftermath Club, and her beloved P.E.O. Chapter AU. Jane was a member of several bridge clubs and the Wednesday Lunch Bunch, and she loved gardening, reading, needlepoint, crewel work, flower arranging and was a phenomenal cook! She and David also volunteered and were very active in the program Meals on Wheels for many years. Probably one of her greatest passions was that of travel, and she and David visited many countries all over the world. A survivor of tuberculosis and breast cancer, Jane was a woman to be admired. She is survived by her husband, David G. Nelson of Richmond; daughter, Deborah and her husband, James Harlan; daughter-in-law, Sally Gray Nelson of Saratoga, California; grandson, Adam (Tanya) Forrest of Richmond; granddaughter, Mary Harlan of Zionsville, Indiana; and three great-grandsons, Payne David, Cooper James, and Quentin Charles Forrest, all of Richmond. She was preceded in death by her son, Quentin Rolf Nelson and brother, Frederich Wade Stillwagon. A 'Celebration of Jane's Life' will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 31, 2012, at First Presbyterian Church, Richmond, with Pastor David A. Layman officiating. Private burial will be in Earlham Cemetery. Arrangements are being handled by Doan & Mills Funeral Home, 790 National Road West, Richmond. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 100 North 10th Street, Richmond, Indiana 47374 or the Wayne County Historical Museum, 1150 North A Street, Richmond, Indiana 47374. Condolences may be sent to the family via the guest book at www.doanmillsfuneralhome.com.

Jane Elizabeth Nelson

December 25, 1918 - October 26, 2012