Loeene Viola Nelson

Loeene Viola Nelson passed away Saturday, January 31, 2015 at Goodall-Witcher Nursing Facility in Clifton following a three year bout with cancer. Funeral services will be held at 10 AM on Thursday, February 5, 2015 at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Cranfills Gap with burial to follow at St. Olaf Rock Church Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6-8 PM on Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at the Clifton Funeral Home.

Loeene was born December 20, 1932 in Roswell, Texas to Leonard and Leaffa Smith. She attended school in Clifton before moving to Pasadena where she graduated from high school. She married Gerald Nelson on August 28, 1981. She worked for different governmental agencies, the most recent being approximately 15 years with VA Medical Center in Waco. After her retirement in 1994, she and Gerald moved to Cranfills Gap where she became a member of St. Olaf Lutheran Church. She treasured the times spent with family and friends.

Loeene enjoyed traveling and duplicate bridge, but her passion was tracing family genealogy. This pursuit took her to ancestral sites in west Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virgiania. She was member of two local genealogy organizations.

She was preceded in death by her parents; one sister, Barbara Alexander; and one brother, Donald Smith.

She is survived by her husband, Gerald; six children, Kenneth Elston and wife, Lori, of Alpharetta, Georgia, Kathleen Elston of Phoenix, Arizona, Laura Elston of Denton, Donna DeWitt and husband, Bob, of Littleton, John Elston and wife, Stacie, of Hurst, and Richard Elston of Webster; seven grandchildren; Gerald's daughter, Melissa Lynn and husband, Michael, of China Spring; three step-grandchildren; three sisters, Anne Duncan and husband, Charles, of Houston, Bette Sue Washburn and husband, Larry, of The Woodlands, and Sandra Walters and husband, Bill, of Meridian; one sister-in-law, Betty Smith of Waco; and twelve nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made to St. Olaf Lutheran Cemetery Fund of St. Olaf Lutheran Endowment Fund in Cranfills Gap, TX 76637.

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