Mrs. Judith McKellar Nielsen

COLUMBIA - Funeral service for Judith McKellar Nielsen, 79, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 12, 2014, at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel. Interment will follow the service in Greenlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Friday and July 11, 2014, at the funeral home. Mrs. Nielsen passed away Tuesday, June 17, 2014, with her daughter Laura by her side from complications arising due to a stroke. Judith known affectionately as “Ms. Judy” was born July 26, 1934, in Greenwood, S.C. to the late Jesse Kennedy and Mayzelle Wilson McKellar. After finishing high school in 1952, she graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1956 receiving her degree in journalism. While studying at the university, she met her future husband, John Doar Nielsen. They were married on May 19, 1956, just two weeks before their commencement. While her husband attended law school, Judith began working for ETV as their public relations director. During her time there, she worked with many different agencies, including SLED under the late Pete Strom, the South Carolina Highway Department and produced the show “Crime to Court” for ETV. She was also instrumental in getting closed circuit TV installed in many public schools and fostering the early implementation of South Carolina’s interstate system. After her daughter’s birth, she was a homemaker for a number of years until she began volunteering in 1973 at Palmetto Health Richland Memorial Hospital in the E.R. While she was volunteering her husband sustained an injury that required medical attention. It was at this time that she realized the need for someone to serve families and friends as the “go between” the families and the hospital. Later, in 1984 she was asked to serve as a full-time patient liaison at the hospital. There she served many families in their time of need with much compassion and care. Judith and her husband were members of St. John’s Episcopal Church for many years. She enjoyed reading and gardening in her spare time and was very proud of their yard. Surviving are her daughter, Laura McKellar Nielsen of Columbia; grandchildren, Erica Judith Nielsen-Lever and John Page Nielsen-Lever; sister-in-law, Elizabeth McKellar of Greenwood; nephews, Brent McKellar (Robin) of Greenwood and Bart McKellar (Kristy) of Lexington; great-nieces, Kaleigh Henry and Kennedy McKellar of Lexington; great-nephews, Brayden and Nathan McKellar of Greenwood; her three cats, Shadow, Smokey and Cookie. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years and her brother, Jack Kennedy McKellar. The family would like to extend and special “Thank You” to the entire E.R. staff for being her second family, the neurology staff, Dr. Spencer Robinson, Dr. Tiamiyu Oladipo and Stacey Fertal, R.N. in the ICU. Memorials may be made to Palmetto Health Richland Trauma Center, 5 Medical Park Drive, Columbia, SC 29203.