Patricia
Nelson, 57
Thief
River Falls - Patricia Jo Anne (Waale) Nelson,
57, passed away Monday, December 8 at the Douglas
County Hospital in Alexandria. Funeral services
were 
held
Friday, Dec. 12, at Abundant Life Church in Thief
River Falls, with Reverend Wesley Langaas
officiating. Casket bearers included Lyle Docken,
Bruce Gast, Kevin Lee, Kenneth Sannes, Jr., Keith
Sistad and Brian Waale. Interment was in the family
plot at Greenwood Cemetery.
Patricia
Jo Anne Waale was born July 13, 1946 in Ada, the
daughter of Ole G. and Joyce Irene (Jackson) Waale.
She was baptized in the Lutheran Church in
Lockhart. The family lived in rural Nielsville
where she attended Sunday School and Elementary
School as well. The family moved to Thief River
Falls in 1957 where she attended Washington
Elementary, was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran
Church and graduated from Lincoln High School in
1964.
Following
high school she worked as a nurse's aide at
Northwestern Hospital, Thief River Falls. When she
was in her early 20's she went to Poland Springs,
Maine and attended the Job Corps program there.
When she returned, she was employed by Arctic
Enterprises, Thief River Falls, for several years.
On
August 3, 1973 she was married to Gene Nelson and
they made their home in Thief River Falls. The
following year they had a baby girl, Heather Jean,
who died after 4 days because of a heart defect.
They were divorced a few years later.
She
was diagnosed as having a chemical imbalance that
developed into other psychological problems and
thus resulted in her residing in various group
homes and nursing homes for the remainder of her
life. When she was in a group home in Thief River
Falls she worked for a time at the Occupational
Development Center in their sheltered workshop for
adults.
Her
last years were spent in Parkers Prairie, at St.
Williams Annex, in both the group home and the
nursing home, and the last week of her life she
lived in Karel's House Group Home. While in Parkers
Prairie, for four days a week, she worked at the
Alexandria Opportunities Center, similar to the ODC
in Thief River Falls. She passed away unexpectedly
from complications due to COPD, a disease close in
scope to Emphysema.
Patty
was very fond of music, especially country &
western as well as waltzes and polkas. She really
liked to play her accordion either with
accompaniment on guitar by others or not. She was
an avid letter writer who also enjoyed reading
letters that she received. She also wrote some
poetry in her spare time. She loved to go shopping
for clothes and also loved to buy gifts for others,
as she was a very kind-hearted person. She will be
greatly missed by all those whose lives she
touched.
Survivors
include her father; a sister, Cindy Waale; a
brother, Brent; and several aunts and uncles,
several cousins, four nieces, and a grand niece and
three grand nephews.
She
was preceded in death by her daughter, Heather
Nelson; a brother, Douglas Waale, her mother, Joyce
Waale, and her former husband Gene Nelson.
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