Helen Bracy (Bracy) Nelson

Helen Nelson, 91, of Bemidji, MN went to be with the Lord on Thursday, March 9, 2017 at her daughter’s home.

Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at the Tenstrike Community Church with Pastor Steve Pomp officiating. Visitation will be one half hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be in Greenwood Cemetery, Bemidji. Arrangements were entrusted to the Olson-Schwartz Funeral Home, Bemidji.

Helen Marjorie Bracy was born December 28, 1925 in Bar Harbor, ME to Harold and Ella Bracy. She grew up on Mt. Desert Island, ME. She moved to Portland, ME where she worked for the war effort until she married Percy Nason on May 29, 1943. In 1956 they left for a better life in California where they raised their five children. In 1970 they moved to Texas where they picked up farming again. Helen went to school to become an LPN and worked in a nursing home in Azle, TX, she and Percy would later divorce. Helen then moved to El Dorado, AR where she worked as a nurse in private duty as well as a nursing home. She met and then married James Nelson on August 12, 1978. In 1991 Helen moved to Bemidji to live with her daughter after James died. She enjoyed quilting, sewing, traveling, gardening and cooking. Spending time with her family was her most treasured times. She was a long time member of the Tenstrike Community Church which was her second home.

She is survived by her children, Rosemary (Jack) Naastad of Bemidji, Greta (Bill) Spencer of Dickson, TN, Frank (Joyce) Nason of Springtown, TX and Delbert Nason of Riverside, RI; grandchildren, Sherry, David, John, Irene, Paula, Zachary, Jacquline, Mike, Jodi, Susan, Carrie, Cindy and Tom; 23 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, Percy Nason and James Nelson; daughter, Terry Ann Thomas; brothers, Leslie, Cecil, Kenneth and Robert and sisters, Lillian, Hazel, Charlotte, Althea and Rosalie.

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