Shirley Nielson

Shirley Louise Nielson

Shirley Louise Nielson died April 25, 2025, at the age of 86 after a prolonged battle with Alzheimer's. She was born August 17, 1938, in a small house in Glorieta, NM to Allen and Eleanor Bemis.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Nielson; her daughter, Vanessa Nielson; her parents; her sister, Florence Hall; and her brothers, Bill and Skip Bemis. She is survived by her children: Nisa Brown (Tom), Valerie Disch (Albert), and Scott Nielson (Pam); grandchildren, Nikki Brown, Kayla Whitaker (Ryan), Tyler Brown, Kylie Navarro (Juan), Kaitlyn Salmon (Bud), Jordyn Disch, Elicia Holt (Garrett), Morgan Samp (Tyler), and Paige Benzing (Andrew); and eight great-grandchildren.

Shirley loved life, she loved her family, and she loved her country. She was very patriotic, you could always identify Shirley's house and car by a flying US flag. She never met a stranger and was generous and helpful to everyone.

For many years, Shirley and her husband loved to travel the Southwest in their RV and spend time at Elephant Butte water skiing with the family, fishing, boating, and visiting with their many friends. Shirley was a terrific cook and baker, and liked to spoil her family with meals and warm homemade brownies. No one made posole better than her, a skill her daughters are still trying to emulate. We will miss her most around Christmas, which was her favorite time of the year because the whole family was together. Shirley will always be remembered by family, friends, neighbors, doctors, hairstylists, and the mailman for her delicious plates of homemade goodies at Christmas.

In addition to cooking and shopping, she enjoyed several bucket-list trips, including one to Washington, DC and New York City with her lifelong friend Sharon. We will miss her laughter, her sassiness, her daily phone calls, her speed walking through the mall, her generous tipping, her affection for all animals, and her overabundance of love for all of us. While she struggled with dementia later in life, she maintained her sense of humor and beautiful smile until the end. You're free now Mom! We love you!

A memorial celebration of Shirley's life will be held at the Chester T. French Memorial Mausoleum Chapel at Sunset Memorial Park on Friday, May 16, 2025. Please visit our online guestbook at www.FrenchFunerals.com for details. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Casa Esperanza, Inc. (https://casanm.org), a special charity close to Shirley's heart. The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Bosque Trails Hospice and Compassionately Caring Assisted Living Facility for their loving support and care during a very difficult time.