Visitation
Thursday, October 31, 2024
1:30 PM to 2:30 PM CDT
St. Rita Catholic Church
4339 Douglas Avenue
Racine, WI 53402
Service
Thursday, October 31, 2024
2:30 PM CDT
St. Rita Catholic Church
4339 Douglas Avenue
Racine, WI 53402
Life Story / Obituary
Joyce Mary Nelsen, age 87, passed away Friday, October 25, 2024, at Parkview Gardens. She was born in Escanaba, MI, April 1, 1937, daughter of the late Edward and Lena (Nee: Pilon) Taylor.
While working in Milwaukee she met Harold K. Nelsen and they were married June 22, 1957, at Sacred Heart Church, Schaffer, Michigan. They moved to Caledonia in 1959 and raised 5 children. Joyce was a longtime active member of St. Rita Catholic Church. She was active with the Pro-life Movement and served as a counselor and director of the Alpha Center for 20 years. When her daughters were young, she was active with the Girl Scouts and had served as a Girl Scout Leader. Joyce was an avid reader who enjoyed gardening and sewing. She will be remembered as a good listener who was quiet, caring, and empathetic. Above all she was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother who will be dearly missed.
Surviving are her children, Kathleen (Steve) Hesse, Sandra (Jim) Wilson, Joseph (Jenny) Nelsen, Mary (Ed) Nelsen-Freund, Patricia Miller; grandchildren: Stephen (Lindsey), Brooke (Tim) Eaton, Brittni Hesse, Jess Wilson, Courtney Wilson, Kerry (Andy) Ross, Katherine, Nicholas and Jennifer Nelsen, Laura and Thomas Dobke, Kylie (Troy) Lenz, Ryan and Elizabeth Nelsen-Freund, Hudson (Marisa) Miller, Hailey (Joe Fortman) Miller, Angela (Chris) Lang; great grandchildren; Castiel, Killian and Elias Hesse, Devan, Eliana and Nathan Lang, Emma Wilson, Brayden Ross, Cameron Ross, Elyse Ross, Charli Eaton; sister-in-law, Lillian Taylor; numerous nieces and nephews and many wonderful friends. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her brother, Melvin Taylor; sister, Marlene (Thomas) Bisson, and son-in-law, Ted Miller.
A Mass of Christian Burial celebrating Joyce’s life will be held Thursday, October 31, 2024, 2:30 pm, at St. Rita Catholic Church, 4339 Douglas Ave with Fr. Marco Valentini officiating. Private interment will take place at Holy Cross Cemetery, Hwy. 32. Relatives and friends are welcome to meet with the family prior to the Mass Thursday 1:30 – 2:30 pm at the church. Memorials to St. Rita Catholic Church or Pro-Life Wisconsin have been suggested.
A very special thank you to the entire staff at Parkview Gardens and Heartland Hospice for their loving and compassionate care.