Helen Marie Nelson, age 96, formerly of Lake Preston passed away, Friday, May 2, 2025, at the Brookings Hospital.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, at North Preston Lutheran Church rural Lake Preston with Pastor Brian Ricke officiating.
Visitation will be at 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, May 9, at Crawford-Osthus Funeral Home in Arlington with a prayer service at 7 p.m. with Pastor Tim Rynearson officiating.
Burial will be in the North Preston Lutheran Cemetery rural Lake Preston.
Helen Marie was born June 15, 1928, to Ole and Myrtle (Knutson) Lakness. She grew up on her parents farm north of Lake Preston. She lived a half mile from the country school that her mother and grandmother attended which she also would attend for eight years. The farm was just one mile from North Preston Church where she attended church Sunday School and Bible School. She was also baptized, confirmed and married in the North Preston Lutheran Church by the same pastor. Growing up, she followed her dad around helping wherever she could. She wore bib overalls and carried a corn cob pipe and an empty can of Prince Albert- pretending she was the hired man. As a result, when she got married she knew nothing about cooking.
She attended Lake Preston High School and graduated in 1946. Since there was no bus service; she and her friend Joan Rich stayed with an older couple who housed high school girls. Room and board was 16 dollars per month. Their parents often brought meat and eggs to supplement their grocery.
Following high school, she worked at a hardware and gift shop. She married Wendall Nelson on March 12, 1947, after living in Lake Preston for three years while Wendall farmed with his dad. In 1950, the couple moved to the Lakness farm. There, they continued farming, raising four sons and lots of black cattle. The couple lived there for 46 years- good years with many memories.
The couple moved to Lake Preston in 1996, when their son, Jon, took over the cattle operation. She worked for a number of years at the Lake Preston School as a librarian and other positions. She was active in the church all of her life, teaching Sunday School, Confirmation, Bible School and held numerous offices at the local and state level in the Church Women’s Organization. She also served on the Lake Preston School Board and always had a heart for children and for those in need.
They moved to StoneyBrook Suites in Brookings in 2018.
She is survived by her sons, David (Jean) of Hetland, Dennis (Shelley) of Brookings and Jon (Cathy) of Lake Preston; nine grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren; as well as sister-in-law Bethel Thompson of Cary, NC; brother- in- law Herb Nelson of Stillwater, MN and numerous other family members.
She was preceded in death by her husband; son, Tom; one grandson; her parents; sister and brother-in-law, Lorraine and Loy Schultz.
