Mary Jane Nelson

Mary Jane Nelson, 87, of Hampton, Illinois, died Wednesday, November 20, 2019, at home.

Services are 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Horizon Room at Trimble Funeral Home at Trimble Pointe, Moline. Visitation is 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Monday. Burial is in Hampton Township Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Hampton Historical Society.

Jane was born April 23, 1932, in Moline, to George and Mary Ellen (Cook) McNeal. She graduated from United Township High School in 1950. After attending Augustana College she went on to earn her bachelor's degree in education from Illinois State University. She married Merlin A. "Rocky" Nelson on June 10, 1956, in Hampton. He died October 27, 2011.

She taught briefly at Orion High School and Hoffman Elementary school in East Moline before going to work with her husband at United Township High School. She taught Bachelor Living and Vocational Childcare, retiring in 1993. She also worked at Sylvan Learning Center and taught summer school at UTHS and Upward Bound for Marycrest College.

Jane was a member of Blackhawk Unit Retired Teachers, Ride the River committee, and Republican Women of Rock Island County. She was active in 4-H and was a stalwart for the Hampton Historical Society to be forever remembered as "Queen of the Apple Dumplings". She sewed, crocheted, and wrote "Jammin' With Jane" for the Hampton Town Crier.

Survivors include four children, Melinda (Rev. Myron Erickson) Nelson Erickson of Chicago, Marc (Laurie Morris-Blackman) Nelson of Hampton, Martha (David Aaron) Nelson of Queens, New York, and Merlin Nelson, Jr. of East Moline; granddaughters, Linley Maeve Erickson, Victoria Ellen Nelson, Victoria Alexis Nelson-Aaron, and Julia Helen Nelson-Aaron; and her sister, Beverly Coder, and her family. She was preceded in death by her husband and brother-in-law, Jack Coder.

Online obituary available at TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.