Virginia “Ginna” Nelson passed away peacefully at Evergreen Manor on February 26, 2020. She was born in Menominee, Michigan, on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1924. She and her family moved to Oshkosh when she was five, and she graduated from Oshkosh High School.
She met her husband, Elwyn “Jack” Nelson, in high school. They both attended the University of Wisconsin Madison and graduated during the beginning of WWII. They married in Oshkosh in 1946 and enjoyed a 64-year marriage.
Ginna was active in Camp Fire Girls, first as an organizer in California as she waited for Jack to return from WWII, and then in Oshkosh before her first child was born. She was a full-time mom at home until her children reached their late teens. She then returned to her Campfire career as the Executive Director of the Winnebagoland Council of Camp Fire Girls, serving for seven years.
Ginna admired her father’s community service and served on the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation board for 29 years. She was a founding member of the Women’s Fund. She served as a docent at the Paine Art Center, and also served on the Camp Fire Board after retiring as Executive Director. She and Jack were very active in their church, First United Methodist, and taught Sunday School for many years. She served on the Evergreen Foundation Board and the UW Oshkosh Foundation Board.
As newlyweds, Ginna and Jack led the Methodist Youth Fellowship. As their service project, they put a young Filipino man through medical school. Dr. Ricardo Fernando became a leading authority on diabetes in Southeast Asia, and named his son, Elwyn, and one of his daughters, Ginna. Until Dr. Ric’s death, Ginna and Jack maintained their good friendship with Ric and his wife, visiting the Phillipines several times.
Ginna and Jack skied in winters and waterskied and sailed in summers at their cottage on Black Wolf Point. With others, they organized the YMCA Ski Club and chaperoned many trips with their children and other Oshkosh High School students. They skied in Europe and Colorado and travelled in Europe and Southeast Asia.
They served as American Field Service (AFS) parents to two students: one from Chile, Fernando Diaz-Vergara; and Jan Willem Eelkman Rooda, from the Netherlands. They became especially close to Jan Willem and his family, visiting in Europe and hosting them here in the states.
Ginna welcomed everyone to her home, and her children’s friends spent a lot of time at Menominee Drive, their home for 56 years, and the Black Wolf Point cottage. Ginna’s warm heart made her a second mother to many of her children’s friends.
Ginna was a long-time member of Chapter AG of PEO, and enjoyed being a member of Fireside Antiques Club and Leisure Hour Art Club.
Ginna moved to Evergreen Manor in 2012, Living independently in her own apartment until January 2020. She served on many committees and was a member of several clubs.
Ginna completed her memoirs in December 2019, ending with this:
“Jesus has been my constant guide and friend all these years. I praise Him and thank Him every day. I have truly lived a blessed life.”
Ginna is survived by her three children, Thomas (Diane) Nelson, Green Lake, WI; Barbara (Timothy) Mulloy, Oshkosh; Katherine (Jack) Carstens, Greenville, WI; nine grandchildren, Noel (David) Weber, Truckee, CA; Elizabeth (Joshua) Roberts, Alexandria, MN; Erick (Georgia) Holaus, Bluffton, SC; Emily Brown, Deforest, WI; Maggie Larson, Richfield, MN; Kyle (Anna ) Mulloy, Fort Worth, TX; Jesse (Emily) Chase, Winneconne, WI; Samuel (Angela) Chase, Pickerington, OH; Nathan Chase, Gainesville, FL; and two step-grandchildren, William (Jennifer) Carstens, Neenah, WI; and Doreen Carstens, Denver, CO. Her 29 great-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren include Gavin Weber; Tyler and Thomas Nelson, David and Joshua Johnson; Terrapin, Carter, and Aiden Roberts; Bradyn, Teagan, and Devin Holaus; Kaden, Sawyer, and Eleanor Brown; Oliver and Wyatt Larson; Reid, Kate and Grace Mulloy; Matthew, Madeline, Annabelle, Caroline, and Henry Chase; Levi Chase; Elsa and Asher Chase; and Jaeden and Jack Carstens. She is also survived by her sister, Janet Jeffreys, Towson, MD.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack, and her parents, Harry I. and Helen Burch Miller.
Ginna’s family established an Acorn Fund with the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation in her honor on her 85th birthday. In lieu of flowers, please send any memorials to The Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, 230 Ohio St #100, Oshkosh, Wi, 54902, with a memo for the Nelson Women’s Fund/Virginia Nelson.
Visitation will be Friday, March 6, 2020 from 4 – 7 PM at Konrad-Behlman Funeral Home-Westside, 100 Lake Pointe Dr., in Oshkosh. Funeral services will be on Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 10:30 AM at First United Methodist Church, 700 Linwood Ave., Oshkosh, with visitation beginning at 9:45 AM.
