Nelson, Martha Joanne (Jo)

10-28-2021

 

Martha Joanne (Jo) Nelson, 83, was born to Dale and Vanetta Hemmerly on March 10, 1938, and passed away in Stillwater, OK, on October 28, 2021.  She was the youngest of seven children.  After graduating from high school, she attended The Ohio State University; but her father's illness caused her to withdraw to help care for him.  On June 26, 1957, she and Eldon C. Nelson were married in Dunkirk, OH.  They eventually returned to Columbus, OH, so her husband could continue graduate work, during which time Jo held several office positions.  Following Eldon's graduation, they moved to Stillwater where both were employed.  Jo worked in the College of Arts and Sciences where she worked in student services.  Upon the arrival of their first child, Jo left her position at OSU to be a full-time mother and continued that role until her second child was in middle school.  For ten years, she worked for a financial planning firm in Stillwater.  In 1988, Jo accepted a position in OSU's Office of Academic Affairs and remained in that office until retiring in 2003.  Jo was preceded in death by her husband, Eldon (E.C.), her parents, five sisters, and her brother.  She is survived by two daughters, Laura Nelson and Julie Kunzelmann, and four grandchildren, in addition to a number of nieces and nephews in Ohio.