Eloise Evelyn Nielsen

NIELSEN ELOISE EVELYN NIELSEN (Age 90) Eloise Evelyn (Gerard) Nielsen passed away peacefully at her home in Bethesda, MD from natural causes on July 31, 2009. A native Washingtonian, Mrs. Nielsen was born on October 16, 1918. She graduated from Central High School and later studied at George Washington University. Always passionate about politics and current events, Mrs. Nielsen worked in the grassroots level of presidential elections, congressional committees, and for staff members of Congress throughout her entire life. At the age of 20 she began her career as a volunteer for members of Congress, House, and Senate as an administrative assistant. Highlights of her career (one that spanned the terms of six presidents) were working in the office of the chairman of the Democratic National Committee and for the Carter/Mondale transition team. Proud of her involvement in politics and her Washington roots, Mrs. Nielsen was a lover of American history. She marched her children through American battlefields and sought out historic homes of early American authors. Always tying history to the present, she stood her children roadside for the wintry inauguration of President Kennedy, and brought her children and grandchildren to the White House for Easter egg hunts in the spring. She and her husband, Captain H. H. Nielsen, enjoyed summering on Cape Cod in their Cotuit home with their children and grandchildren. She is predeceased by her husband of 56 years, in 2005, and her daughter, Karen N. Grammaticas, in 2007. She is survived by her daughter, Kristine E. Nielsen of New York, NY; her grandchildren, Katherine G. Foster of Brooklyn, NY and Andrew P. Grammaticas, of Franklin, MA; and her great-grandchildren, Alexander P. Grammaticas and Henry T. Foster. She will be buried alongside her husband at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, October 26 at 3 p.m.