Clinton Daily News Clinton, Oklahoma October 30, 1993
MAISIE NELSON LIVED FULL LIFE
Educator, patriot, political activist, mother and homemaker... those were among the numerous roles Maisie Nelson filled during her long lifetime in western Oklahoma.
Mrs. Nelson, 96, died Thursday at the Delmar Gardens retirement center in Lenexa, Kan, outside Kansas City. A former longtime Arapaho resident, she had moved in 1985 to the Kansas City area to be near her daughter.
A private burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the Arapaho Cemetery, with a memorial service officiated by Fred Lenk planned for 1 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Clinton. The family will receive friends in the church fellowship hall during a coffee hour following the service.
The former Maisie Arnett was born Aug. 26, 1897, at Britt, Iowa, the daughter of Willis and Mary Ann (Newcomb) Arnett.
She attended school in Iowa through the eighth grade, after which her parents moved to a relinquishment her father had bought near the Antelope Hills in old Day County (later divided into Roger Mills and Ellis counties) across the South Canadian River from the town of Grand. Her maternal grandparents had settled previously at Butler.
In 1913 the Arnetts moved to Weatherford because it offered more educational opportunities for Maisie and her younger sister, Wilma, who were then of high school age. She went on to graduate from Southwestern Normal school, which offered a two-year course at that time, and entered the teaching profession.
Her first school was at Hobart, where she taught the primary grade and worked in the summers for two local banks.
Maisie's sister had been a sickly child and she had helped care for her, also taking nursing courses and one in first-aid. With the outbreak of World War I, she put that part of her education and experience to use at old Camp Donovan at Fort Sill. Her duties included overseeing breakfast for 69 men, giving 30 to 40 cleansing and temperature baths a day to those who couldn't walk, and making as many as 75 beds a day - complete with hospital corners.
After the war she resumed her teaching career for a brief period, at Cherokee, before marrying and retiring to a farm near Arapaho.
She and her husband had two daughters, but when he left to work in the oil fields and was gone for a year, she divorced him since no one would hire married women in those days and she needed a job in order to care for herself and the girls.
She also went back to college at Southwestern, earning a four-year degree and resuming her teaching career once more. She taught agriculture at Sayre, an unusual field for a woman, but did it so successfully that she was urged to run for Beckham County school superintendent, and was elected when she did.
After four years as county superintendent, she returned to Weatherford as a faculty member at Southwestern, then moved to Alva where she taught seven years at Northwestern State College. She also earned her master's degree at the University of Oklahoma and did a year's work on her doctorate at Columbia University in New York City.
Her patriotism came to the fore again when World War II broke out; this time she applied for a cryptographer's job with the Signal Corps. Not only was she accepted, she became a teacher in the U.S. Cryptographers School at Washington, D. C.
Toward the end of the war she began a correspondence with R. E. "Ed" Nelson, a widower who lived in Clinton, and he eventually went to Washington to marry her.
In 1946 they built a house east of Arapaho and that became her home for nearly 40 years, until she moved to Kansas. She worked with her husband in the grain and seed business at Clinton until his retirement, and the two of them also traveled extensively in Europe. He died in 1971.
Raised as a Republican, Mrs. Nelson was politically active most of her life. She was an officer of the Custer County Republican Party, as well as its women's group.
She attended the First Presbyterian Church of Clinton and was active in professional and social organizations. Memberships included the Worthwhile and Delphian Clubs of Clinton, Kappa Delta Pi, the Custer County Historical Society, and the Retired Teachers Association. She was an honorary member of the Clinton Business and Professional Women's Club and an active member of the Washita Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mrs. Nelson is survived by one daugher, Faith Ann Shirley of Overland Park, Kan.; four grandchildren, Kathleen Micken, Poquosa, Va.; Nelson Shirley, Weston, Mo., Dennise Badell, Shawnee, Kan., and Jamie Goldstein-Shirley, Irvine, Calif.; and two great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ed, one daughter, Betty May, who died as a child of appendicitis; and her younger sister, Wilma.
The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Clinton Public Library or the First Presbyterian Church.
MAISIE NELSON LIVED FULL LIFE
Educator, patriot, political activist, mother and homemaker... those were among the numerous roles Maisie Nelson filled during her long lifetime in western Oklahoma.
Mrs. Nelson, 96, died Thursday at the Delmar Gardens retirement center in Lenexa, Kan, outside Kansas City. A former longtime Arapaho resident, she had moved in 1985 to the Kansas City area to be near her daughter.
A private burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the Arapaho Cemetery, with a memorial service officiated by Fred Lenk planned for 1 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Clinton. The family will receive friends in the church fellowship hall during a coffee hour following the service.
The former Maisie Arnett was born Aug. 26, 1897, at Britt, Iowa, the daughter of Willis and Mary Ann (Newcomb) Arnett.
She attended school in Iowa through the eighth grade, after which her parents moved to a relinquishment her father had bought near the Antelope Hills in old Day County (later divided into Roger Mills and Ellis counties) across the South Canadian River from the town of Grand. Her maternal grandparents had settled previously at Butler.
In 1913 the Arnetts moved to Weatherford because it offered more educational opportunities for Maisie and her younger sister, Wilma, who were then of high school age. She went on to graduate from Southwestern Normal school, which offered a two-year course at that time, and entered the teaching profession.
Her first school was at Hobart, where she taught the primary grade and worked in the summers for two local banks.
Maisie's sister had been a sickly child and she had helped care for her, also taking nursing courses and one in first-aid. With the outbreak of World War I, she put that part of her education and experience to use at old Camp Donovan at Fort Sill. Her duties included overseeing breakfast for 69 men, giving 30 to 40 cleansing and temperature baths a day to those who couldn't walk, and making as many as 75 beds a day - complete with hospital corners.
After the war she resumed her teaching career for a brief period, at Cherokee, before marrying and retiring to a farm near Arapaho.
She and her husband had two daughters, but when he left to work in the oil fields and was gone for a year, she divorced him since no one would hire married women in those days and she needed a job in order to care for herself and the girls.
She also went back to college at Southwestern, earning a four-year degree and resuming her teaching career once more. She taught agriculture at Sayre, an unusual field for a woman, but did it so successfully that she was urged to run for Beckham County school superintendent, and was elected when she did.
After four years as county superintendent, she returned to Weatherford as a faculty member at Southwestern, then moved to Alva where she taught seven years at Northwestern State College. She also earned her master's degree at the University of Oklahoma and did a year's work on her doctorate at Columbia University in New York City.
Her patriotism came to the fore again when World War II broke out; this time she applied for a cryptographer's job with the Signal Corps. Not only was she accepted, she became a teacher in the U.S. Cryptographers School at Washington, D. C.
Toward the end of the war she began a correspondence with R. E. "Ed" Nelson, a widower who lived in Clinton, and he eventually went to Washington to marry her.
In 1946 they built a house east of Arapaho and that became her home for nearly 40 years, until she moved to Kansas. She worked with her husband in the grain and seed business at Clinton until his retirement, and the two of them also traveled extensively in Europe. He died in 1971.
Raised as a Republican, Mrs. Nelson was politically active most of her life. She was an officer of the Custer County Republican Party, as well as its women's group.
She attended the First Presbyterian Church of Clinton and was active in professional and social organizations. Memberships included the Worthwhile and Delphian Clubs of Clinton, Kappa Delta Pi, the Custer County Historical Society, and the Retired Teachers Association. She was an honorary member of the Clinton Business and Professional Women's Club and an active member of the Washita Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mrs. Nelson is survived by one daugher, Faith Ann Shirley of Overland Park, Kan.; four grandchildren, Kathleen Micken, Poquosa, Va.; Nelson Shirley, Weston, Mo., Dennise Badell, Shawnee, Kan., and Jamie Goldstein-Shirley, Irvine, Calif.; and two great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ed, one daughter, Betty May, who died as a child of appendicitis; and her younger sister, Wilma.
The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Clinton Public Library or the First Presbyterian Church.
Clinton Daily News Clinton, Oklahoma October 30, 1993
MAISIE NELSON LIVED FULL LIFE
Educator, patriot, political activist, mother and homemaker... those were among the numerous roles Maisie Nelson filled during her long lifetime in western Oklahoma.
Mrs. Nelson, 96, died Thursday at the Delmar Gardens retirement center in Lenexa, Kan, outside Kansas City. A former longtime Arapaho resident, she had moved in 1985 to the Kansas City area to be near her daughter.
A private burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the Arapaho Cemetery, with a memorial service officiated by Fred Lenk planned for 1 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Clinton. The family will receive friends in the church fellowship hall during a coffee hour following the service.
The former Maisie Arnett was born Aug. 26, 1897, at Britt, Iowa, the daughter of Willis and Mary Ann (Newcomb) Arnett.
She attended school in Iowa through the eighth grade, after which her parents moved to a relinquishment her father had bought near the Antelope Hills in old Day County (later divided into Roger Mills and Ellis counties) across the South Canadian River from the town of Grand. Her maternal grandparents had settled previously at Butler.
In 1913 the Arnetts moved to Weatherford because it offered more educational opportunities for Maisie and her younger sister, Wilma, who were then of high school age. She went on to graduate from Southwestern Normal school, which offered a two-year course at that time, and entered the teaching profession.
Her first school was at Hobart, where she taught the primary grade and worked in the summers for two local banks.
Maisie's sister had been a sickly child and she had helped care for her, also taking nursing courses and one in first-aid. With the outbreak of World War I, she put that part of her education and experience to use at old Camp Donovan at Fort Sill. Her duties included overseeing breakfast for 69 men, giving 30 to 40 cleansing and temperature baths a day to those who couldn't walk, and making as many as 75 beds a day - complete with hospital corners.
After the war she resumed her teaching career for a brief period, at Cherokee, before marrying and retiring to a farm near Arapaho.
She and her husband had two daughters, but when he left to work in the oil fields and was gone for a year, she divorced him since no one would hire married women in those days and she needed a job in order to care for herself and the girls.
She also went back to college at Southwestern, earning a four-year degree and resuming her teaching career once more. She taught agriculture at Sayre, an unusual field for a woman, but did it so successfully that she was urged to run for Beckham County school superintendent, and was elected when she did.
After four years as county superintendent, she returned to Weatherford as a faculty member at Southwestern, then moved to Alva where she taught seven years at Northwestern State College. She also earned her master's degree at the University of Oklahoma and did a year's work on her doctorate at Columbia University in New York City.
Her patriotism came to the fore again when World War II broke out; this time she applied for a cryptographer's job with the Signal Corps. Not only was she accepted, she became a teacher in the U.S. Cryptographers School at Washington, D. C.
Toward the end of the war she began a correspondence with R. E. "Ed" Nelson, a widower who lived in Clinton, and he eventually went to Washington to marry her.
In 1946 they built a house east of Arapaho and that became her home for nearly 40 years, until she moved to Kansas. She worked with her husband in the grain and seed business at Clinton until his retirement, and the two of them also traveled extensively in Europe. He died in 1971.
Raised as a Republican, Mrs. Nelson was politically active most of her life. She was an officer of the Custer County Republican Party, as well as its women's group.
She attended the First Presbyterian Church of Clinton and was active in professional and social organizations. Memberships included the Worthwhile and Delphian Clubs of Clinton, Kappa Delta Pi, the Custer County Historical Society, and the Retired Teachers Association. She was an honorary member of the Clinton Business and Professional Women's Club and an active member of the Washita Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mrs. Nelson is survived by one daugher, Faith Ann Shirley of Overland Park, Kan.; four grandchildren, Kathleen Micken, Poquosa, Va.; Nelson Shirley, Weston, Mo., Dennise Badell, Shawnee, Kan., and Jamie Goldstein-Shirley, Irvine, Calif.; and two great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ed, one daughter, Betty May, who died as a child of appendicitis; and her younger sister, Wilma.
The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Clinton Public Library or the First Presbyterian Church.
MAISIE NELSON LIVED FULL LIFE
Educator, patriot, political activist, mother and homemaker... those were among the numerous roles Maisie Nelson filled during her long lifetime in western Oklahoma.
Mrs. Nelson, 96, died Thursday at the Delmar Gardens retirement center in Lenexa, Kan, outside Kansas City. A former longtime Arapaho resident, she had moved in 1985 to the Kansas City area to be near her daughter.
A private burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the Arapaho Cemetery, with a memorial service officiated by Fred Lenk planned for 1 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Clinton. The family will receive friends in the church fellowship hall during a coffee hour following the service.
The former Maisie Arnett was born Aug. 26, 1897, at Britt, Iowa, the daughter of Willis and Mary Ann (Newcomb) Arnett.
She attended school in Iowa through the eighth grade, after which her parents moved to a relinquishment her father had bought near the Antelope Hills in old Day County (later divided into Roger Mills and Ellis counties) across the South Canadian River from the town of Grand. Her maternal grandparents had settled previously at Butler.
In 1913 the Arnetts moved to Weatherford because it offered more educational opportunities for Maisie and her younger sister, Wilma, who were then of high school age. She went on to graduate from Southwestern Normal school, which offered a two-year course at that time, and entered the teaching profession.
Her first school was at Hobart, where she taught the primary grade and worked in the summers for two local banks.
Maisie's sister had been a sickly child and she had helped care for her, also taking nursing courses and one in first-aid. With the outbreak of World War I, she put that part of her education and experience to use at old Camp Donovan at Fort Sill. Her duties included overseeing breakfast for 69 men, giving 30 to 40 cleansing and temperature baths a day to those who couldn't walk, and making as many as 75 beds a day - complete with hospital corners.
After the war she resumed her teaching career for a brief period, at Cherokee, before marrying and retiring to a farm near Arapaho.
She and her husband had two daughters, but when he left to work in the oil fields and was gone for a year, she divorced him since no one would hire married women in those days and she needed a job in order to care for herself and the girls.
She also went back to college at Southwestern, earning a four-year degree and resuming her teaching career once more. She taught agriculture at Sayre, an unusual field for a woman, but did it so successfully that she was urged to run for Beckham County school superintendent, and was elected when she did.
After four years as county superintendent, she returned to Weatherford as a faculty member at Southwestern, then moved to Alva where she taught seven years at Northwestern State College. She also earned her master's degree at the University of Oklahoma and did a year's work on her doctorate at Columbia University in New York City.
Her patriotism came to the fore again when World War II broke out; this time she applied for a cryptographer's job with the Signal Corps. Not only was she accepted, she became a teacher in the U.S. Cryptographers School at Washington, D. C.
Toward the end of the war she began a correspondence with R. E. "Ed" Nelson, a widower who lived in Clinton, and he eventually went to Washington to marry her.
In 1946 they built a house east of Arapaho and that became her home for nearly 40 years, until she moved to Kansas. She worked with her husband in the grain and seed business at Clinton until his retirement, and the two of them also traveled extensively in Europe. He died in 1971.
Raised as a Republican, Mrs. Nelson was politically active most of her life. She was an officer of the Custer County Republican Party, as well as its women's group.
She attended the First Presbyterian Church of Clinton and was active in professional and social organizations. Memberships included the Worthwhile and Delphian Clubs of Clinton, Kappa Delta Pi, the Custer County Historical Society, and the Retired Teachers Association. She was an honorary member of the Clinton Business and Professional Women's Club and an active member of the Washita Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mrs. Nelson is survived by one daugher, Faith Ann Shirley of Overland Park, Kan.; four grandchildren, Kathleen Micken, Poquosa, Va.; Nelson Shirley, Weston, Mo., Dennise Badell, Shawnee, Kan., and Jamie Goldstein-Shirley, Irvine, Calif.; and two great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ed, one daughter, Betty May, who died as a child of appendicitis; and her younger sister, Wilma.
The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Clinton Public Library or the First Presbyterian Church.
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