PRESTON — The funeral for Gerald C. Nelson will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Preston United Methodist Church, with Pastor Ron Hanson officiating. Burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery, Preston.
Mr. Nelson, 75, formerly of Preston, died Tuesday (April 21, 2009) at the Homestead Assisted Living Complex in Rochester.
He was born April 12, 1934, in Minneapolis to Clarence and Ethel (Johnson) Nelson. He lived in south Minneapolis and graduated from Minnehaha Academy. On Oct. 17, 1953, he married Marilyn Peterson in St. Paul. The couple lived in St. Paul for a year and a half before moving to Coon Rapids, Minn., where Mr. Nelson worked for Honeywell. He later went back to school, graduating from the University of Minnesota in December 1965.
In January 1966, he started teaching in Bird Island, Minn., and later became elementary school principal there. He was a school administrator in Emmons, Grand Marais and Moorhead, all in Minnesota, before coming to Preston in 1986. He retired in January 1996.
Mr. Nelson was a member of First Baptist Church in Preston, serving there as Deacon and Adult Sunday School Teacher. He enjoyed woodworking and gardening, was an avid reader, and belonged to the Preston Lions Club for more than 20 years. In May 2008, he and his wife moved from Preston to Rochester.
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He is survived by his wife; daughters, Linda (Louis) LaFrenier of Coon Rapids, Lorae (Mark) McKeever of Waconia, Minn., and Kristy (Steve) Christie of Mission Viejo, Calif.; sons, Gregory (Danni) of Hawaii and Philip (Roberta) of Rochester; nine grandchildren; nine stepgrandchildren; a great-grandchild; five stepgreat-grandchildren; a brother, David (Gail) of Spicer, Minn.; three sisters, Lorraine (Evert) Peterson of Willmar, Minn., Audrey (Gene) Dalton of Waco, Texas, and Delores (Dean) Danielson of Edina, Minn., many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by two grandchildren.
Friends may call from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Thauwald Funeral Home in Preston, and an hour before the service Saturday at the church.
The family prefers memorials to the First Baptist Church of Preston.
