Janice Nelson

Arnold Moore & Neekamp Funeral Home - Janice Snow Nelson, a vibrant, curious, and creative being, passed away at home on March 25, 2016, with three of her children and hospice by her side. Janice was born to Fanny McNaught Snow and Myron Glenn Snow on January 26, 1922, in Boulder, Colorado. She grew up wandering the foothills and high country of the Colorado Rockies with her family and friends. Janice and her parents often entertained and awed her children with stories of the mountain climbing experiences of the Snow family. Janice attended the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder and studied a wide variety of subjects from art to geology, anthropology to literature. She considered the CU course catalog to be equal to the Sears wish book at Christmas. One of her summer jobs while attending CU was the position of archaeological assistant to Dr. Anna O. Shepard in Guatemala. She graduated from CU in 1944 with a BA in Arts and Sciences and accepted a job in Bartlesville at Phillips Petroleum, working with geologists. Not long after her arrival in town, she literally ran into Bill Nelson in Bartlesville post office. They soon began spending time in the out of doors and were married in 1945 in the rose garden at Johnstone Park. Although Janice stopped working in the professional sense after she was married, she continued to "work" in the community, volunteering her time and energies. She served as a leader with her daughters' Girl Scout troops and a den mother to her sons' Cub Scout packs. In 1947, Janice and Bill moved to State College, Pennsylvania so that Bill could pursue a master's degree in chemistry. It was there that they had their first daughter, Darby. They returned to Bartlesville in 1948 and Janice gave birth to her son Tom Lindsey and daughter Andrea. Several years later she gave birth to her son Derek and daughter Tambra. Her family, friends, and community were important to her, and she helped organize a sewing club, Great Books, and the Bartlesville Fencing Club. Education was always important to Janice and she often helped in the elementary schools, and later as a reading tutor. Janice was at home in the kitchens and dining rooms of friends and family, believing that birthdays and visits from out of town friends were causes for celebration. Janice excelled at the arts although she would never would have called herself an artist, bringing her talents to her home life and the world around her. She was an exceptional seamstress, making most of her children's' clothes, upholstering furniture, and constructing beautiful dolls for gifts. She had life-long interesting in geology, anthropology, and archaeology and every family vacation involved stopping the car at least once a day by yelling, "Stop! I need to look at that rock formation!" By the time we returned home, the car was weighted down with assorted stones and fossils. She was a partner with Ann Mills in Realizations where she designed and helped create beautiful silver jewelry. Janice was preceded in death by her parents, brother, sister, and husband. She is survived by Darby and Tom Lindsey of Bartlesville, Andrea Nelson Miller and her husband Tim of Ohio, Tambra Nelson and her husband Jim Van Overschelde and their daughters Athena and Eliza of Texas. In lieu of flowers, the family suggest donations in memory of Janice Nelson to the Bartlesville Public Library, 600 S. Johnstone, 74003 (attn: Denise Goff) at (918) 338-4187 or to the Oklahoma Nature Conservancy at (800) 628-6860 or at https://goo.gl/kaQrO2 (Case sensitive). Arrangements were entrusted to the Arnold Moore & Neekamp Funeral Home. Online condolences may be left at www.honoringmemories.com.