Rosemary Nelson

Rosemary F. Nelson, 82, of Rosalie, Nebraska, died on Sunday, November 19, 2023, surrounded by her family, at her home in Rosalie.  A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Walthill, NE.  The visitation will be held beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, and will run until the time of the service at 2:00 p.m.  Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery in Walthill, NE.  Munderloh–Smith Funeral Home is in charge of the services.

She was born on January 16, 1941 at her family's home in rural Walthill NE to Walter & Agnes (Hudec) Bouchal. She was the fourth child of their six children. One of her sisters, Elizabeth Joan "Betty Jo" passed away as an infant. Followed by the loss of her Father Walter when Rosemary was just 6.  Her mother raised Her and her siblings, Ann, John, Paul, and James(Jim) on their homestead in rural Walthill, NE.  She was a dedicated lifelong member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Walthill NE. She attended school and graduated from Walthill High School in 1960. During High school and early adulthood, she worked as a waitress in Sioux City, IA at Green Gables Restaurant.  She married her first husband Donald Pierce and to that marriage, eight children were born. In 1976 they divorced and she and her children relocated back home settling in Rosalie, NE.  In October of 1981, Rosemary was united in marriage to her life partner of almost 42 years, Gerald L Nelson who passed away in April of this year. He helped her raise her 8 children like his own, along with his daughter and a son they adopted together.  When they first got married Rosemary volunteered at the Walthill Headstart program where her oldest Grandkids attended, then she became a CNA at the Lyons Nursing Home as well as provided some private care for some dear friends until she retired.  Given it was all but impossible for her to sit idle, retirement meant it was her time to care for the next generation of her family.  Rosemary continued to surround and keep herself busy for many years to come with her ever-growing family. She provided many loving memories day and night with generation after generation of twenty Grandchildren twenty seven Great Grandchildren and five Great-Great Grandchildren!

In her free time, she enjoyed pruning her flower gardens or helping her husband tend to the produce from their garden that was big enough to feed our entire family and many others!! She always stayed busy with Dolly Parton as her background music, literally there was always music in her kitchen. The only time you could find her sitting was either at church or during Days of Our Lives. She was always on the go, cleaning, cooking, tending to one of us grandkids, chasing to their school events, etc. There were always a million things to do and not enough hours in her day even though her day started with hot coffee hours before the sun came up!  Rosemary was the one person you knew you could call day or night, if you were ever in a situation where you had just one call to make and needed to know someone would answer, it would be to her! She would answer with a chipper "Yellow!" even in the middle of the night.

Rosemary was preceded in death by Her Mother and father, Her Husband Gerald L Nelson, Her Sister Elizabeth "Betty" Jo, Her brothers John & Paul, and her son Walter Pierce.

Left to Celebrate her life & mourn her loss: her Sister: Ann Burmestser, brother: James "Jim" Bouchal her Children: Beth (Gary) Fletcher of Ralston, NE, Joan Pierce of Rosalie, NE, James (Kami) Pierce of Walthill, NE, Warren Nelson of Rosalie, NE, Dawn Nelson of Rosalie, NE, Ben (Jessica) Nelson of Rosalie, NE, Charles Nelson of Millington, TN, Tristan Nelson of Bancroft, NE and her step-daughter Lila Dee Nelson of Union Furnace, Ohio. Along with twenty grandchildren, twenty seven great grandchildren, five great-great grandchildren, and a large extended family and many close friends.