Mary J. Nelson, 87
Dateline: Beverly, MA
Mary J. (Kelley) Nelson, age 87, a sixty-three-year resident of Beverly, passed away peacefully on Saturday, December 12, 2020 at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers. She was the beloved wife of the late Edmund F. Nelson, who died on February 26, 2004.
Mary Nelson was a giant personality. She was the Salt of the Earth. She did not pretend to be someone she was not. What you saw, what you heard – that was Mary Nelson of Beverly, MA died December 12, 2020 at Care Dimensions in Danvers.
She, like her sister, were unable to have their own children. Her sister, Shirley Aldred (2015), rescued three infants from an orphanage and gave them a chance, David Aldred of Brentwood, NH, Karen Stivaletta of Hampton, NH and me, Charles Bame-Aldred of Boston, MA. Mary Nelson loved each us as though we were her own. She called us out when we were behaving badly just like any mother would. She hugged us, and she loved us just like any mother would. She just never had to change a diaper, which she was proud to tell me. She was our second mother.
She taught us how to be gracious and forgiving, and how to have fun. She lived in the moments of her life like there was no tomorrow, and yet scrimped and saved to carve out a future for her and the love of her life Edmund (Eddie) Nelson (2004). She and Eddie took us into their home and their hearts. They cooked for us. They helped us learn how to swim. They taught us to appreciate family and friends, and to work hard at everything we did.
Every person I met over the last 5 years, from her former co-workers at Sylvania to her close-knit group of neighbors and friends, told me how much they loved and adored her. The self-described motor mouth would never stop. The stories she told were infectious, and I heard them many times. Each time, I laughed. Not because there was something different about the story. I laughed because she told them with an enduring excitement that only she could express.
Mary and I made 4 trips to her birthplace, Prince Edward Island (PEI). She was proud of where she was born and did not hesitate to tell anyone that would listen. We would drive for two days in the Mercury Marquis, stopping overnight in St. John, New Brunswick. We would never turn on the radio. The entire 10-hour trip was story telling. It was the best, sweetest audio book I ever listened to: Mary Nelson’s Stories.
There were stories about the bus trips to the island with my mother and grandmother, Shirley and Mildred. Shirley would sit up next to the bus driver the entire time. Poor Mary had to sit next to her mother sipping cokes and trying not to get car sick. Mildred would always have a little spit-up bag close at hand if Mary was feeling nauseated. But when they got to O’Leary, Mary would lie in the grass and smell the tiny flowers and she knew she was home.
She would recant stories of her and my mother as young girls sitting in the outhouse in PEI, chatting about how their lives would turn out, boys, and other such things.
She told me about the time she and her girlfriends went out to a club and drank underage. When they got on the Boston Green Line trolley to go home, one of Mary’s friends noticed her mother Mildred was seated at the front of the trolley. Mary and her friends hid in the back, trying not to be seen. Knowing my grandmother, she knew Mary and her friends were back there and up to no good.
There was the story about how she and Renee, Mary’s childhood friend, took Eddie’s new car and knocked the side view mirror into a tree. They raced to Summerside PEI to get it fixed and she never told Eddie. Knowing Eddie, he knew what she did.
There was the story about how she, Renee and a couple of other friends took a rowboat out into the Cape Cod Canal and could not navigate back to shore. They had to be rescued by a passing Coast Guard ship. She always told me the rescuers were so strong and good looking. But they could never be Eddie.
When she ran out of stories on our trips to PEI, she would hum gospel hymns. Who needs a radio when you have Mary Nelson?
There was a 5th trip I took with Mary and Eddie when I was 10 years old. I got to go with them to PEI for 2 weeks without my parents or my brother, sorry Dave. Her cousins: Clare MacDonald of Brampton, ON, Carol MacDonald of Summerside, PEI, Sandra Williams of Ellerslie, PEI, Barry MacDonald of Summerside, PEI, Linda Hibbs of Stratford, PEI, and Marvin MacDonald of O’Leary, PEI, and their parents would roll out the welcome mat for Mary. In her 87 years, she could only count 4 or 5 times she did not set foot on the island where she was born.
We never stayed in a hotel. We stayed with relatives in O’Leary and I got to ride the tractor. We stayed in Summerside with her uncle Reg MacDonald; who was a pretty big deal in town. We would get lobsters right from the docks, go swimming at West Point near the light house, get red clay caught between our toes, eat ice cream every day and have about as much fun as a 10 year away from their parents could.
After 3 or 4 days staying with Uncle Reg and his family, we were getting ready to depart. Mary and Eddie thanked them for a wonderful stay. Mary looked at me and asked if I had anything to say to Reg. I stared blankly at her and said no. We got in the car and I was given a tongue lashing for not saying thank you. She was so mad at me. I was mortified.
I never forgot that moment, and it created in myself an appreciation for all the little things that people do for us. I don’t recall when I became an adherent to this understanding of thanking others for any little thing they do, but that moment shaped how I treat others for their time and their trust in me. That strange moment at 10 years old made me a better person for the next 48 years and counting. That was one of the small lessons I learned from my second mother, Mary Nelson.
I want to end this very simply. Mary Nelson: Thank you for your time. Thank you for your trust. Thank you for your love. Thanks Mom.
Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend a graveside funeral service on Saturday, December 19th at 11:00 A.M. at the Spring Brook Cemetery, 88 School Street, in Mansfield
Visiting hours are omitted and In lieu of flowers in memory of Mary, memorials to: Care Dimensions, 75 Sylvan Street, Suite B-102, Danvers, MA 01923 or Bethel United Church, P. O. Box 158, O’Leary, PE C0B 1V0
Arrangements are under the care and direction of the Sherman & Jackson Funeral Home, 55 North Main St., Mansfield.
To send her family a message of condolence, please visit www.shermanjackson.com