Washington Evening Journal
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Obituaries
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Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Marilyn Kay Nelson Bergess
Age: 75
City: Gainesville
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Marilyn Kay Nelson Bergess
Marilyn Kay Nelson Bergess
Gainesville, Ga.
Marilyn Kay Nelson Bergess, 75, a resident of Gainesville, GA, and longtime citizen of Mount Pleasant, died on March 20, 2022, of sepsis contacted after an illness.
Marilyn, the eldest daughter of O.B. Nelson and Eunice Fricke Nelson, was born on December 9, 1946, in Grinnell. The family moved to Fairfield with the advancement of O.B. Nelson’s career as Parsons College professor and coach. Marilyn grew up in Fairfield, later moving to Keokuk and California before returning to live in Mount Pleasant.
Marilyn was employed for nearly 30 years as a beautician by Spurgeon’s Department Store, Mount Pleasant. Marilyn left an impression on anyone she met. She was ferociously loyal, notoriously difficult, and originally hilarious.
She enjoyed fishing and being outside. One of Marilyn’s proudest moments was owning a boat and taking it to various Iowa lakes. She knew all the back roads of Fairfield and Mount Pleasant. Her favorite navigator was her mother, Eunice, who never tired of riding, even reading a map upside down.
Marilyn loved holidays, especially Christmas and Halloween. She had creative license over her daughter Julie’s Halloween outfits, winning a blue ribbon when she dressed her as an outhouse.
She was a voracious reader with a wide range of interests. Stephen King’s IT was a shared favorite with her daughter. Marilyn owned all the novels, but one, of authors Mickey Spillane and Louis L’Amour.
Marilyn had a soft spot for animals, rescuing many over the years, including three that moved to Georgia with her. Her daughter remembers her pulling off the highway to pick up injured animals.
Marilyn, as a single parent and homeowner, often found uses for discarded things, fixing them or finding alternate uses. She did shabby chic before it was a fashion.
She loved a good joke; she and her brother Dick took turns telling jokes and pulling tricks on one another. They were a standup comedian show at every family gathering.
In 2019, after several years of health issues, Marilyn moved to Georgia to be closer to Julie. The Georgia transition was challenging, but Marilyn enjoyed driving her riding mower, burning real fires in her fireplace, driving the countryside with her daughter, and eating shrimp fajitas and drinking strawberry margaritas at the many area Mexican restaurants.
Family and friends recently scattered her ashes at Oakland Mills where she had fond memories of camping and fishing. She asked that family and friends not be sad for her passing, telling her daughter she was ready for whatever was next. She said, “Go have a party! Have drinks! Tell stories and jokes and laugh. I’ll be mad if you are sad.”
Survivors include daughter Julie Bergess and daughter-in-law Cindy Duggan, Flowery Branch, GA; siblings Dick Nelson, Kalona; Sarah Fuerstaneau, Racine, WI; Kate DeJong, Knoxville; Cindy Nelson, Watertown, MA; and many nieces and nephews. Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents, and brother Robert Nelson.
Memorials may be made to a local chapter of the ASPCA.