Deborah J. Nelson, 59

Dodge Co. Head Start Edu. Program Director

Former Blair resident Deborah J. Nelson, 59, died Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, at her home in Beatrice.

Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, at Centenary United Methodist Church, 608 Elk Street, in Beatrice. There will be a family prayer service at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday at the church. Interment will be at the Blair Cemetery.

Visitation was held at the Laughlin-Hoevet Funeral Home in Wymore on Monday; and continues from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Griffiths-Hovendick Chapel, 708 N. 6th Street, Beatrice, with her family receiving friends from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; and at the church one hour preceding the service.

Deborah Jean Gass was born Sept. 15, 1952, in Omaha to Dr. Charles C. and Doris (Griffiths) Gass. She spent her childhood in Omaha and was a 1970 graduate of Omaha Central High School. She received her bachelor's degree in 1974 from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln where she was a member of the Delta Zeta Sorority.

She married Jeffrey Nelson on June 1, 1974, at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Omaha. They resided in Blair and Minneapolis, Minn., and then returned to Blair. They moved to Wymore in 1978 where Mrs. Nelson taught the early childhood education class at the Martin Luther Home in Beatrice until 1988. They moved to Fremont in 1988 and she served as Educational Program Director for the Dodge County Head Start Program. They moved to Beatrice in 1991, and she was a substitute teacher in Beatrice and Wymore Southern Public Schools until her health forced her to retire.

She was a member of Centenary United Methodist Church, the Elizabeth Circle of the church and the Thursday morning Bible study. She was also a member of Violet Chapter #105, O.E.S. and Chapter Q of P.E.O., both at Wymore.

Her interests included her Welsh heritage, spending winter vacations in Hawaii with her mother, and spending time with her family and attending the activities of her children.

She is survived by her husband, Jeff; son and daughter-in-law, Ryan and Megan Nelson of Lincoln; daughter and son-in-law, Erin and T. J. Schlake of Omaha; two grandchildren; two brothers and sisters-in-law, Charles T. and Kathe of Naples, Fla., and John L. and Debbie Gass of Aurora, Colo.; sister-in-law and spouse, Prudy and Bill Cemer of Omaha; and nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; parents-in-law, J. Emery and Patricia (Larson) Nelson; and a sister-in-law, Denise Gass.

Memorials are suggested to Mosaic's Beatrice campus, the Southeast Nebraska Chapter of the American Red Cross, and Centenary United Methodist Church.

Laughlin-Hoevet Funeral Home, Wymore, is in charge of arrangements.