Freestone County, Texas Obituaries Fern Louise Nielsen February 2, 1917 - August 22, 2010 Fern Nielsen, 93, died peacefully at her assisted living home in Humble, Texas, surrounded by loving family, on Sunday, August 22, 2010. She was born on February 2, 1917, near Holstein, Iowa, to Fred Rosenstock and Winifred Parker Rosenstock, and grew up in Iowa and South Dakota. Fern was the widow of Rev. Howard Nielsen, a retired United Methodist minister who died at 89 in 2000 at their home in Fairfield, Texas. Howard had graduated in 1943 from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and had served as a pastor in East Texas, then in 1943 in Iowa before leaving for military service. Howard and Fern were both veterans of World War II. Howard served as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy and Fern as a nurse in the U.S. Army Nursing Corps, both in the Pacific Theater. They met while Howard served as Fern’s pastor in Washta, Iowa. Howard and Fern married in 1946 and raised a family, having a daughter and then three sons. After the war Howard returned to the Texas Conference, serving as pastor for a dozen congregations in East and Southeast Texas during the period 1946-74 (the final four appointments being Houston area churches), while Fern supported church activities and worked as a housewife until retraining as a Registered Nurse in the late 1960’s. In 1975 they retired to a small farm near Teague, Texas, though Fern worked at the local hospital until the early 1980’s. They moved to nearby Fairfield in 1997. Fern is survived by daughter Karen Nielsen Carlton and husband Ed of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; son Paul Nielsen of Houston, Texas; son Dana Nielsen and wife Lana of Humble, Texas; son Luther Nielsen of College Station, Texas; grandchildren Angela Carlton of Dallas, Texas, Tracy Carlton of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Laurie Nielsen Bender and husband David of Austin, Texas, Carrie Nielsen Starr and husband Matt of Cypress, Texas, Ryan Nielsen of Miami, Florida, Danae Nielsen of Humble, Texas; great-grandchildren Keeli Machacek and Ian Starr of Cypress, Texas, Michael Bender and Nathan Bender of Austin, Texas; sister Edna Eide of Bemidji, Minnesota; and brother-in-law Raymond Nielsen of Fremont, Nebraska. The family gratefully acknowledges the wonderful care provided for Fern in her final days by Lynnette Husky and her dedicated staff at Compassionate Home Care and the hospice services provided by the caring staff at Odyssey Health Care. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1-3 A graveside funeral service will be held at Lakeview Methodist Conference Cemetery near Palestine, Texas, at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, August 24, 2010, led by retired United Methodist Bishop John Wesley Hardt of Dallas, assisted by Rev. Paul Kethley of First United Methodist Church in Fairfield. A memorial service to celebrate Fern’s life will be held in the Chapel at First United Methodist Church, 800 E. Main, Humble, Texas, at 3:00 PM on Saturday, August 28, 2010, led by Sr. Minister, Dr. E.B. Beasley, Jr. Facts Born: February 2, 1917 Death: August 22, 2010 Graveside Tuesday August 24, 2010, 2:00 PM at Texas Methodist Conference Cemetery - 6 miles W. of Elkhart, TX on W. State Hwy. 294 Memorial Service Saturday August 28, 2010, 3:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of Humble, Texas