Birth date: Jun 13, 1913 Death date: Nov 25, 2007
Nellie M. Swanson, 94, of Clinton, died Sunday, November 25, 2007 at the Alverno. Funeral Services will be 1:30pm, Saturday, December 1, 2007 at Immanuel Lutheran Church with Rev. Paul Holmer officiating. Burial will be in the Pi Read Obituary
I was a partner veterinarian at the DeWitt Veterinary Clinic during the time Nellie worked there. Her married name was Sourwine at that time and as a widow she was courted by farmer Earl Swanson, a client of ours. They married and Nellie became a farmer's wife. She was a highly valued employee. We joked that Nellie's personality and ever smiling countenance did not reflect her married name of Sourwine. She was a joy to know.
Bill & Norma
Friends and family,
I'm sorry that I won't be able to attend the services. But that possibility was precluded by prior commitments. And, truth be told, I'd rather just remember than to attend services. They never add up to a whole life... And, I think, if anyone has one, Nelly had a whole life
Nellie's mother died before her time leaving Nellie, as the oldest daughter, to become a mother figure for the family. With three brothers and one sister (my mother) in the house, that surely must have been a formative time in her life.
She seemed to have accepted the job, and to have done it well. Nellie obviously cared about my mother. Nellie's role as substitute mother for my mom seemed to continue for decades, sometimes to the point that my mother would complain. Looking at the mail,my mother was capable of saying, "Oh No! Another letter from Nellie! Now I owe her one..." But I could see the love.
For everything from raising unruly children when she was a child herself, to putting in a garden; from baking a cake with the gooey white frosting that I loved, to playing cards, Nellie wanted to do the best job she could do.
I remember one summer when I was home from college. It was announced that we were going to see Aunt Nellie and Uncle Earl. I went along, expecting to be bored. But then I was invited to play cards with the "old folks". I had come of age!
At the time I was a bit full of myself. I had learned to play Bridge, and was convinced that I could show these folks a thing or two. Wrong! Not only did my parents eat me alive, but Nellie and Earl beat the smithereens out of all of us!
I learned that humility, properly mixed with a desire to do things right, is a good recipe for life.
Thanks Aunt Nelly,
And good-by.
--del
We send our sympathy to Nellie's family. Nellie was a nanny for our family in the 1940's. I really don't remember Nellie staying with me, but I do remember when she would come to visit my parents(Byron and Flora Mueller) in later years. I know that my parents really appreciated all that Nellie did for our family.
God Bless you Aunt Nellie. You'll always be in our hearts.
