Mary Ann Nelson

Mary Ann Nelson died peacefully in her sleep early in the morning on Thursday, January 25, 2024. She was 89 years old. Born in Brooklyn on Thursday, November 15, 1934 to Ruth Augusta Andersson and Charles Rafael Johansson, Mary Ann was the fourth child of seven. Family legend speaks of Mary Ann’s mother, Ruthie, taking the bus and train to Brooklyn Hospital to give birth to many of her children. Mary Ann is survived by her daughters, Deborah Cornelia and Lisa Ann, her grandson, Erik Rafael and five of her siblings, William Alexander, Charles Frederick, Ruth Hulda, Grace Catherine and Kate Victoria, as well as 20 nieces and nephews. Her grandson, Paul Fredrik, died in 2001, and her sister, Greta, died in 1973.

Immigrants from Sweden, Charlie and Ruthie settled in Springfield Gardens in Queens, New York. This was a rural area in the thirties, and the family raised goats and chickens to make ends meet. There were always vegetables from the garden and fruit from the cherry tree in the backyard. Nine people shared the two-bedroom house that came to be known as Johndsonland. A white clapboard house set in a field in the thirties became incongruous amongst the repetitive urban sprawl in the fifties and sixties. Today, the maple tree in front yard of Mary Ann’s childhood home still stands as the only reminder of the past.

As a teenager, Mary Ann took two buses to Andrew Jackson High School in Hollis, Queens, where she graduated in 1952. After high school, while still living at home, Mary Ann commuted to Manhattan every workday, where she had a job as a secretary at General Electric. Always glamorous and adventurous for a young woman of her time, this experience gave her an understanding of her strength and independence that would serve her for the rest of her life.

The Salvation Army was a place where many Swedish families who immigrated to the United States found community. Mary Ann was an active member, and it was at a Salvation Army Santa Lucia Day celebration in Massachusetts that Mary Ann met Alexander Cornelius Nelson, whom she married in 1955.

Over the next several years, Mary Ann raised a family and served in the Salvation Army in Mechanicville, New York, New York City and in the Methodist Church in Jersey City, New Jersey. In 1968, Mary Ann settled her young family in Riverdale, a leafy neighborhood in the Bronx with good public schools. Mary Ann worked at the Interchurch Center in Manhattan for many years, and during this time, Mary Ann took as many college classes as she could manage at Hunter College in New York City. Education was of paramount importance to her, and she was determined to become a college graduate.

Mary Ann moved with her family for Vermont and after a few years moved to New Haven, Connecticut in the mid-seventies; New Haven would be her home for more than fifty years. She worked at Yale University and continued to take classes at Fairfield University whenever she could. At Yale, Mary Ann was the Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Yale Art Gallery. Mary Ann worked for Bart Giamatti when he became the President of Yale University in 1978. When Bart left, Mary Ann was granted a sabbatical to finish her undergraduate degree. For the first time in her life, Mary Ann was able to attend school without the burdens of childcare and full-time employment. She spent a year reading and discussing the literature she loved, a lifelong passion. Mary Ann Nelson received her Bachelor of Arts in Literature from Fairfield University at the age of 55. After graduating, Mary Ann held the job of Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Business School at Yale for 17 years.

Divorced from Alexander in 1979, Mary Ann created a new life for herself in New Haven. Mary Ann was a member of Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, and for the last several years a member of Bethesda Lutheran Church, where she was welcomed to the community that would support and care for her in her final years.

Mary Ann was a kind, passionate and compassionate person. She had a deep love of nature and concern for the environment. She was an avid reader, a runner, and a pescatarian for most of her adult life. She loved her children and grandchildren deeply. She will be profoundly missed.

A memorial service will be held at Bethesda Lutheran Church, 305 Saint Ronan Street, New Haven, Connecticut on Saturday, February 10th at noon followed by a luncheon.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Doctors Without Borders, Arbor Day Foundation, or UNICEF.

Rejoice and give thanks!