Verner Nelson

Verner G. Nelson, 86, of Mt. Vernon passed away at 5:40 p.m., on Sunday, June 14, 2009 in his home. Verner was born on August 26, 1922 in Smolan, Kansas, the son of Clarence T. and Viola (Johnson) Nelson. Verner was a lifelong resident of the Mt. Vernon and Freistatt communities. He was a 1941 graduate of Mt. Vernon High School, World War II Army veteran, and retired as the foreman for Southwest Research Center after 25 years of service in 1988. Verner was active in the Freistatt community as a member of the Freistatt Lions Club, sat on the board of the Freistatt Fire Department, member of the Freistatt American Legion Post 419 for over 60 years, member of the D.A.V., original member of the Trinity Lutheran Church Men's Glee Club, sang with the church choir and quartet, and served as an elder, for 20 plus years, for the St. John's Lutheran Church in Monett. On January 12, 1952 he married Ruth Rubin in Fairland, Oklahoma.

Those surviving include his wife of 57 years, Ruth; three sons, Clarence Nelson and wife, Teresa, of Pierce City, Rick Nelson of Springfield and John Nelson of Mt. Vernon; two daughters, Cheryl Stotts and husband, David, of Monett and Sandy Baker and husband, Tom, of Wildwood, Missouri; sister, Viola Ruth Schulze of Thousand Oaks, California; seven grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. His parents, sister, Alice Kleiboeker, and brother, Frank Nelson, preceded him in death.

Funeral services, under the direction of Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home, Mt. Vernon, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 19, 2009 in the Trinity Lutheran Church, Freistatt. Burial, with full military honors, will follow in the church cemetery. A visitation will be held in the funeral home on Thursday from 6 -- 7:30 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Trinity Lutheran Church Radio Broadcast or Community Hospice in care of the funeral home.

On line condolences may be shared at www.fossettmosherfuneralhome.com.

PAID OBITUARY