BETTY NELESEN
Betty Nelesen, age 82, formerly of 24 Point Elkhart Drive, Elkhart Lake, Wis., passed away early Wednesday morning, Sept. 9, at Countryside Manor in Sheboygan of Alzheimer’s disease.
Betty was born on May 25, 1927 in Sheboygan, the daughter of the late John Kashnigg and Adela (nee Bayens) Kashnigg Zillner.
She attended Longfellow Public School and graduated from Sheboygan Central High School in 1945. She also attended the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan.
On July 22, 1947, she married Donald Nelesen in Sheboygan. The couple resided in Sheboygan after their marriage until 1967 when they moved to Elkhart Lake.
Betty spent many years working at the D.J. Nelesen Furniture store as a bookkeeper.
She was a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Elkhart Lake.
She was a former member of the St. Dominic’s Catholic Women’s Society at St. Dominic’s School; she participated in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
Betty will be remembered for her love of education and her love of books. She was a member and president of the North High School PTA. She was also a member of the Elkhart Lake School Board.
Betty enjoyed her time spent as a member of the Friends of Elkhart Lake Library. She was also a member of the Elkhart Lake Women’s Club.
Betty was proud of her involvement in the Sheboygan County Parkinson’s Disease Support Group that she help to found.
Betty loved to read. She went to the library weekly and read the New York Times “cover to cover” on Sundays. She also enjoyed all the traveling she and Don did and, in latter years, the times they wintered in Arizona. But most of all, Betty loved all the good times at Elkhart Lake with her children, grandchildren and extended family.
Don preceded her in death on Dec. 3, 2004. She will be remembered for her truly amazing and loving care of Don when he had Parkinson’s disease.
Survivors include one daughter, Barbara (Edmund) Knauf of Sheboygan; one son, Thomas (Mary) Nelesen of Kalispel, Mont.; four grandchildren, Christopher (Dawn) Nelesen of Milwaukee, Andrew (Anne) Nelesen of St. Paul, Minn., Anne (Robert) Hubatch of Portland, Ore., Elizabeth (Ian) Alderson of New Delhi, India; five great-grandchildren, Charles, Gwendolyn and Martin Nelesen, Avery and Claire Hubatch; two brothers, John (Nancy) Kashnigg of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Tom (Sheila) Zillner of Madison; three brothers-in-law, Richard Nelesen of Sheboygan, John (Shirley) Nelesen of Sheboygan, Joseph (Mary) Nelesen of Chilton; one sister-in-law, Carole Carter of Rochester, Minn.
She is further survived by nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends.
A Funeral Mass was held Monday morning, Sept. 14, at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Elkhart Lake. The Very Rev. Dennis Van Beek, pastor of the church officiated. Private entombment has taken place in Calvary Cemetery in Sheboygan.
A memorial fund has been established in her name for the Friends of the Elkhart Lake Library or the Sheboygan Salvation Army. The Suchon Funeral Home and Cremation Service is serving the family. For online condolences, visit www.suchonfh.com.
