Adeline was born on a farm near Palmer NE to Lizzie and William Meyer on June 30, 1927, the youngest of four children. She attended and graduated from the St. Paul NE school system, and it was in that school where she met a young man, Paul Nelsen. A few short years after her graduation, on Feb 2, 1947, these two married, moved to Lincoln and started a family. Adeline was a stay at home mom, raising five children until they were older, and then took an entry level position at the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Company as a switchboard operator. She worked her way up to Supervisor until her retirement in 1990. After that, her main job was Grandma, and her grandkids loved her dearly, as she did them. To this day, the grandkids will regale you with story after story about going to Grandma’s.
Her interests were bowling, golf, playing cards, sewing, quilting and gardening. She also volunteered at the then Rape/Spouse Abuse Crisis Center and served as a role model for many women in the community. She was also a valued member of Christ Lutheran Church until her passing.
Besides the five children she and Paul raised, she also had 19 grandkids, 32 great grandkids, and 2 great, great grandkids. She is survived by her five children and their spouses, Doug Nelsen & Laurie Novak, Roger & Roxanne Nelsen, Mary Nelsen & John Zrust, Paula & Bruce Berg, and Ron & Jessica Nelsen as well as, of course, the grandkids, great grandkids, and the great greats. She was preceded in death by her parents, Lizzie and Bill Meyer, three brothers, Orville, Eugene and Marlin, and her husband Paul.
To say she will be missed would be a huge understatement and the influence she had on so many lives cannot be calculated. Saying she impacted the lives of her friends and family goes without saying, but there are countless others, most of whom she never came to know, whose lives were somehow made better after contact with her. We will all miss her and look to the day when we will be reunited with her beautiful soul.
Funeral service will be held on Wednesday, August 7, 2019 at 12:30 with a visitation one hour prior to service at Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home, 6800 South 14th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. In lieu of flowers make a donation to a charity of your choice. lincolnfh.com
