Alice Mary Nelson

Alice Mary Nelson, 94, of College Station, passed away Thursday morning, April 16, 2015. Visitation will be from 3-6 pm on Sunday, April 19 at Memorial Funeral Chapel in College Station. A celebration of her life and funeral service will be at 11 am on Monday, April 20, at Central Baptist Church in College Station (corner of FM158 and Harvey Rd).

Alice was born May 14, 1920 in Union City, New Jersey to Charles and Isabelle (Miller) Pickel. She grew up in New Jersey, graduating from Memorial High in West New York, NJ and the Catherine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York City. She began her secretarial/bookkeeper career in NYC with The Texas Company, but joined the newly formed U.S. Navy WAVES immediately following Pearl Harbor. She met her future husband, Robert Cole Nelson, while stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, and they were married on January 23, 1944. The couple settled in Texas after the war, living in Waco, Brackettville, Cameron, Jasper and finally Fort Worth, where they lived for 15 years with their three sons before retiring to Lake Granbury in 1978. Following Bob’s death in 1986, Alice moved here to be with her immediate and extended family.

After coming to College Station in 1988, Alice devoted her life to her family and her Lord Jesus Christ, serving in various ministries at Central Baptist Church, especially Women on Mission, Precept and InnerAct Bible Studies, Triple L, MIX, and the 24-hour Prayer Room. She also volunteered for many years at sister churches in Discovery and Christian Women’s Job Corps, helping to share the love of Christ with international and local women in a practical way. She had a heart for missions, inspired by the couple’s two year missionary service in the Philippines, traveling to Israel, Australia, China, Turkey, Japan, and Mali, Africa (where she was given a goat by a tribal chieftain).

She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Nelson; sons, Robert Jr. and Jeffrey Nelson; and sisters, Dorothy (Pickel) Bartkowski and Isabel Pickel.

Alice is survived by her brother, Charles Pickel, of Sanibel, Florida; her son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Laura Nelson, of Bryan; three granddaughters who knew her as “Meemaw”, Christine Yager and her husband Michael of Bryan, Nicole Nelson of Lewisville, and Jennifer Nelson of Fort Worth; and great granddaughter, Elizabeth Yager of Bryan.

In lieu of flowers, please prayerfully consider making a donation to and/or volunteering for one of the many ministries she served these many years. Better yet, ask God to show you His perfect will for your life, and do it.