Mavis (Maisy) Nelson, age 89, of Hendricks, MN passed away on Saturday, October 18, 2025 at the Hendricks Community Hospital Nursing Home in Hendricks, MN. A Celebration of Life visitation will be held from 4 to 6pm on Thursday, October 23rd at the Hendricks Community Hospital Chapel in Hendricks, MN with a prayer service held at 5:30pm. Inurnment will be held at a later date. Houseman Funeral Home, Birk Chapel in Hendricks, MN has been entrusted with the arrangements.
Mavis Luella Nelson (Maisy) was born in Middle River, MN, on April 4, 1936, to Homer and Florence Landon. The third of ten children, she often cared for her younger siblings. She loved family, words, and ice cream. Growing up in Hallock, MN, she also frequently went to movies with friends or her sister Gloria, even though her mother frowned upon such activity. When she wasn’t working at Bertha’s (the local rest home) or helping family, she was reading; often multiple books at the same time. She was an excellent student (“our future valedictorian” according to a classmate) but dropped out of school because she fell in love and got married at 16, and moved to Hawaii to be with her husband, Lowell. They were married for 68 years until his death in 2020. Maisy, Lowell and their two sons moved from Air Force bases in Hawaii to Nebraska, Puerto Rico, and Grand Forks. In Omaha, Maisy obtained her GED and studied stenography. At Grand Forks AFB she joined the Civil Service, working up from the Information Office to command level administrative assistant. Her word skills and editorial efforts often helped her superiors’ writing look better. Upon her retirement she was presented a trophy proclaiming her as the “Grammanator.” Her love of words was also expressed in recreation. The main game at home was Scrabble. Birthday or Christmas gifts were often one of many versions of Scrabble, Upwords, and Word Yahtzee. She was the family Scrabble Queen. If one bested her in Scrabble, a very rare event, you could stand a little taller, put it in your journal, and prepare to be crushed in the next match. Another life-long passion was ice cream; summer or winter. She and Lowell were a sweet team at making many different flavors of home-made ice cream, often bringing freshly churned goodness to birthday parties, graduations, picnics, or family reunions. After Lowell’s death, she moved to the Villa in Hendricks, MN. She gave up Scrabble and reading, but not her taste for her favorite ice cream, vanilla. A broken hip in the spring of 2025 limited her mobility for her final months. She passed away peacefully on 18 October 2025 with family by her side.
Grateful for her life are her sons Lowell “Rusty” Jr. (Barbara) and Scott; grandchildren Justin (Karyn) Nelson, Emily (Nick) Nelson Abentroth, Daniel (Dorisa) Nelson, Eric (Kaitlynn) Nelson, and Miranda (Tyler) Tschetter, and 12 great-grandchildren; Hunter, Bella, Casey, Grady, and Oliver Nelson; Oskar and Elena Nelson; Owen, Declan, and Finnian Nelson; and Anya and Nadia Tschetter. Also grateful for Maisy’s life are sisters Celia Woodward and Faith Rud, and brothers Wendell Landon and Les Landon. She was preceded in death by her husband Lowell; brothers Jack and Harold, sisters Gloria, Ricki, and Linda; and daughter-in-law Audrey Nelson.
