Lillian H. Nelson

Lillian H. Nelson, 102, of Ridgecrest Retirement Village, Davenport, formerly of Rock Island, died peacefully at her home on Monday, May 21, 2018. A Memorial Service will be held at 11 am on Saturday, July 14, 2018 at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 2136 Brady St., Davenport. Visitation will be held an hour prior to the service at the church, as well as following the service. Her body has been donated to the University of Iowa for Scientific Study. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Harry E. and Lillian H. Nelson Scholarship Fund at Augustana College, 639 38th St., Rock Island, IL 61201. Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, Rock Island, is assisting the family. Lillian H. Nelson was born Mar. 20, 1916 in Princeton, Ill., a daughter of Herman and Selma Pierson Nelson. She married Dr. Harry E. Nelson on June 21, 1941 in Princeton. He died Dec. 30, 2003. She graduated from Princeton High School in 1934, where she was a member of the National Honor Society. Lillian graduated from Knox College in 1938 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics. She was elected to the Delta Sigma Rho Honorary Forensic Fraternity, was a member of the Gnothautii Literary Society, winner of the Gynkhana horse-back riding competition and won the D.A.R. Essay Contest in 1938. Lillian did post-graduate study at the University of Iowa, Iowa City and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She was named an Honorary Alum of Augustana College in 2002. Mrs. Nelson, as well as being a wonderful wife and mother, in early years taught mathematics at Dickens High School, Dickens, Iowa; mathematics, history and home economics at Manlius High School, Manlius, Ill.; and taught mathematics to V-12 Officers’ Training Recruits during WW II at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn. Lillian was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport and a former member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Rock Island. She was a past president and Life Member of the Augustana College Endowment Society. She was a member of the Augustana Historical Society, Swedish American Historical Society board of directors, Council of Churches senior scholastic volunteer tutor with elementary students, and past board member of the Rock Island Y.W.C.A. Lillian was a member of P.E.O. Sisterhood-Chapter BK, Rock Island, past president of the Illinois State Chapter of P.E.O. Sisterhood, authored the Ten-Year, 1983-1993, Historical Supplement Illinois P.E.O., and was chairman of the Illinois State P.E.O. Convention in 1971. She was named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International. Lillian was a world traveler, having visited all 50 states and 33 foreign countries. With her late husband, Harry who was Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Astronomy at Augustana College, she resided in Bandung, Indonesia, while Harry taught mathematics as a part of a U.S. State Department program. Lillian was also an eclipse chaser and traveled around the world to view 12 solar eclipses in three states, five foreign countries, aboard a chartered United Airline flight and on the deck of a cruise ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. She was invited by Astronaut Neil Armstrong to attend a space launch at Cape Canaveral and as a child was given a hug and kiss by then General of the Army John J. Pershing. In her spare time she enjoyed sewing, baking and antique collecting. Survivors include her children, Ron (Glenys) Nelson, Macungie, Penn., Lois M. Nelson, Chicago and Alan (Peggy) Nelson, Minneapolis, Minn.; grandchildren, Regina (Matt) Johnson, Minnetonka, Minn., Kurt (Joanna) Nelson, Waterville, Maine, and Carl Nelson, Iowa City; great grandchildren, Lillian Grace Nelson and Elliott David Nelson; and sisters, Mildred Schubert, Stanford, Calif., Ruth Rydbeck, Anaheim, Calif., Eleanor Nelson, Bettendorf, and Elaine Kirk, River Forest, Ill. She was preceded in death by her husband, Harry; a brother, John Nelson; and sister, Marian Haagen. Online condolences may be left at wheelanpressly.com.

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