Vera Casper Nielson

Vera Casper Nielson was born on the 1st of November, 1939, in Heber City, Wasatch County, Utah, and died on Wednesday, the 5th of November, 2025, at Legacy Village of Provo of complicated maladies arising from old age. Vera Nielson was, in the order of her own priorities, a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, devout LDS church member, school teacher, world traveler, and friend.

Vera graduated from Wasatch High School in Heber, Utah, in 1958, and from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1962, with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. She taught school in Salt Lake City, Utah. She served in most positions and played significant leadership roles in the LDS Church, which were open to women. She counted as some of her finest church hours those she spent serving children and young women.

Vera served her community in various capacities, including the Navy Officers' Wives Organization, medical wives auxiliaries in California and Utah, and on the Utah State Foster Care Review Board. She was a superlative cook and hostess and served young people from around the world as exchange students and university students from BYU's English as a Second Language Program. Several of those families lived with her.

She was a second mother to several young friends, some of whom lived with her as well. Vera's priorities were always on her husband, family, and church. She had dozens of best friends, including especially her daughter, Kristina, and her two daughters-in-law, Sheila N. Nielson and Jill C. Nielson, who were all held in a special place in Vera's heart. She was self-effacing and supportive and, at the same time, an effective leader.

During the course of her life, Vera lived in Utah, Minnesota, California, Texas, and Virginia. She has traveled to every continent of the world except Antarctica and has visited most countries of the world.

Vera married Karl Douglas Nielson in 1962 in the Logan Temple, and their union produced four children: Karl, Kristina, Dr. Leif Erik, and Erika Marie. She and Doug have eleven grandchildren: Karl Alexander (Rhiannon), Alessandra (Geoffrey) Gee, Ryan Douglas (Suzie), and Logan Alyssa (Austin) Stutz; John Junji, Madeleine Kristina (Peter) Ramos, and Anna Bella; Leif Douglas (Abigail), Annika Grace, Tessa Noelle (Miguel Asai) Villarreal, and Soren Michael. Vera and Doug also have 12 great grandchildren: (Karl and Rhiannon Nielson), Karl B., Sawyer E., Eleanor M., Jack K., and Mara J.; (Alessandra and Geoffrey Gee), Connor C., Colby J. and Lucy E.; (Ryan and Suzie Nielson), Amelia S.; and (Logan and Austin Stutz), Oakley R.; (Madeleine and Peter Ramos), Penelope J.; (Tessa and Miguel Asai Villarreal), Beau D. The great successes of Vera's life were counted by her in the accomplishments of her husband, her children, her grandchildren, and their respective husbands and wives.

Vera was preceded in death by her father, William LeRoy Casper; her mother, Elva Simmons Casper; her two sisters, Carol and Coleen, and a baby daughter, Erika Marie. She is survived by her two sons-Karl L. Nielson and his wife Jill C. Nielson, and Dr. Leif Erik Nielson and his wife Sheila N. Nielson; her daughter-Kristina N. Shimazaki and her husband Junji John Shimazaki; her sister and brother, Betty Rae Casper Bishop (Ross) and Jay Casper (Annette Van Wagoner Casper), her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She is also survived by Patty Wray Deaton, Alexandra Sonntag Sonnenschein, Marianne Mortensen Etringer, and Brian Adams (Carolyn), whom she considered daughters and a son in a large, extended, and interconnected family, including her many cousins.

Vera Nielson lived her life as a peacemaker and to make other people's lives better. She was the soul of generosity and kindness. She was tough and a survivor, including of breast cancer and several significant adversities. Nevertheless, her outlook was positive; she saw the best in others and helped them to live up to their potential. She believed in education and did all she could to foster it. There is a consensus among her family and friends that Vera Nielson was, in the biblical terms of praise, "a virtuous woman [whose] price was far above rubies... who stretched out her hands to the poor... and to the needy; she opened her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue was the law of kindness.”

Funeral service for Vera will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, December 6, 2025, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Locust Lane Building, 965 North Locust Lane, Provo, Utah 84604. A time for visiting and sharing condolences will occur at the church that morning from 9:30 AM until the time of the service. Per Vera’s request, the casket will be closed throughout the morning and afternoon of December 6. Interment will be in Heber City Cemetery later that afternoon.