Janet Lois Nelson

Janet L. Nelson was born to Benjamin and Bertha Terrell in Bloomington, Indiana on January 21, 1931.  She graduated from Bloomington High School in 1949, before attending Indiana University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in elementary and special education.  Shortly after that she moved to Lafayette, Indiana where she taught Kindergarten and 1st-3rd grade for 22 years.  She married Earl E. Nelson on July 14, 1956, enjoying a 66-year marriage.  

Along with her parents Janet is preceded in death by siblings Chester Terrell, Robert Terrell, Mary Ellen Terrell, Martha Terrell Duncan, and Kathleen Terrell Lloyd.  

She is survived by her husband Earl E. Nelson and her children Brian Nelson, his wife Susan and children Benjamin and Katherine; and her daughter Nancy Nelson Sunderman, her husband Chris and children Kyle, Kayleigh, and Conner.  

Janet was a life-long member of the Church of Christ, becoming a member of Providence Baptist Church in early 2019.  She loved the Lord and used her gifts to share the Good News.  Janet and Earl spent three months in Nairobi, Kenya using the Bible to teach English as a second language.  She traveled to Belize to teach vacation Bible school in a small village.  She had a heart for the children’s ministry at the Elmwood Avenue Church of Christ in Lafayette, Indiana.  She used her gift of hospitality in opening up her home freely to foreign students attending Purdue University.  She loved to cook and bake, often inviting foreign students to experience the American holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  

A visitation will be held Saturday October 22, 2022 from 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM and a memorial service directly following visitation at 1:30 PM.  The interment is TBD.  Memorial donations can be made in tribute to and in memory of Janet to the Charlotte Rescue Mission at https://charlotterescuemission.org/donate/.