Ellen Haumann (Jorgensen) Nielsen

Nielsen Ellen Haumann Nielsen The funeral for Ellen Haumann (Jorgensen) Nielsen (Mrs. William T. Nielsen) will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 15, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Estherville, Iowa, with the Reverend Paul L. Wiegman officiating. Burial will be at the Swan Lake Township Cemetery, Estherville, Iowa at 9:30 a.m. Visitation will be held 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Henry-Olson-Fuhrman Funeral Home, 401 North Seventh Street, Estherville, Iowa on Friday, February 14. Mrs. Nielsen, 101, died Thursday, February 6, 2003 at her residence at Charter House in Rochester, Minnesota. A memorial service is being planned at Charter House for a later date. Mrs. Nielsen was born at Skodborghus Hovedgaard, Vejen, Denmark. She attended Vejen Realskole, Fredriksborg Folk High School, and Askov Folk High School in Denmark. In her youth she taught piano. After arriving in the United States on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1926, she made her home for a short time with the Oscar Fagre family in Estherville, Iowa. On January 1, 1927 she married William T. Nielsen, with whom she farmed near Estherville and Ringsted, Iowa for 47 years, with the exception of two years when they were both employed by the Borden Company in Little Valley, New York. After retirement in 1974 they moved to Vermont to be with their daughter, Signe. They returned occasionally to their Estherville farm, "Prairie View Acres," where they had lived as a working family, renters, and later as owners. While living in Ringsted, Mrs. Nielsen was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church. Later she became a charter member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Estherville. Although she devoted most of her time to farm and home, she was a nurses' aide for 11 years at the Holy Family Hospital in Estherville. She was a 4-H club leader, served on the 4-H County Committee, was a member of the Good Samaritan Auxiliary, and participated in activities of the Estherville Republican Women and the Emmet County Farm Bureau. For several years she was director of music for the Social Order of the Beauceant, Estherville Assembly No. 163. She sang in the Emmet County Women's Chorus and was a member of the Midway Country Club, a local women's social group. Mrs. Nielsen is survived by her daughter, Signe T. Nielsen Betsinger, Rochester, Minnesota, with whom she made her home since the death of her husband in 1976. She is also survived by cousins in Denmark. Her infant brother, Harald, preceded her in death. Memorials may be sent to Trinity Lutheran Church, 721 18th Avenue North, P.O. Box 152, Estherville, Iowa 51334; The Danish Immigrant Museum, 2212 Washington Street, P.O. Box 470, Elk Horn, Iowa 51531; or a charity of choice.

Published on February 12, 2003