Anita Nelson

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Anita Chandler Nelson (née Anita Lee Chandler), who passed away on January 9, 2024, in New London, Connecticut at the age of 99 after a short illness. Anita was born October 22, 1924, to Verda and R. Malcolm Chandler in Cleveland, Ohio. She spent most of her childhood in Chicago’s western suburbs, including Oak Park, where she graduated high school. She headed west to the University of Colorado in Boulder for college, where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority and graduated in 1947 with a degree in sociology. After a few years living in New York’s Greenwich Village, in 1951 she returned to Illinois for graduate school, earning her Master’s degree in education in 1955 from the University of Illinois. While in Champaign-Urbana, Anita met Roy Jay Nelson (PhD, French Literature) and they were married August 16, 1954. They were together until Roy’s passing in 2012, making a loving home for themselves and their family first in Ann Arbor, MI, and then following Roy’s retirement in 1995, in Sarasota, FL. After Roy’s death, Anita moved to Connecticut to be close to her children. She is survived by her two daughters Wendy Nelson (Dan Weinreich) and Barbara Videira (Edson), as well as her three beloved grandchildren, Thomas Wilson, Katherine Videira, and Madeleine Videira. Her two sisters, Patricia Chandler Otto and Priscilla Chandler Ruppe, predeceased her in Sarasota.

Anita had many interests that she pursued throughout her life. A voracious reader, she could always be found with a book, newspaper, or magazine nearby. She was a self-taught piano player, playing classical music as well as ragtime. She was fascinated by paleontology and was the family expert on the fossil record. She enjoyed swimming and water aerobics later in life. Apart from smoking, which fulfilled her for over 80 years, her favorite activity was traveling with Roy. Anita’s fierce strength made possible their exploration of the US and the world. Beginning with a year in Paris early in their marriage, where Anita (formerly a student of Spanish) began learning French, she supported Roy by making homes for him in the France he loved, including a year in Neuilly-sur-Seine and another year in Aix-en-Provence. In their retirement they toured through Canada, Norway, and China, among other destinations, and Anita both delighted in seeing new places and in returning to their lovely condo on the Gulf of Mexico in Sarasota.

A private memorial for Anita will be held in the spring in Sarasota, where her ashes will be scattered so that she can be near Roy. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Beacon Hospice Care or the League of Women Voters.