Dr. Elsa Purugganan-Nelson

1939 - 2021

DR. ELSA
PURUGGANAN-NELSON

WINTER HAVEN - Dr. Elsa Purugganan-Nelson of Winter Haven was summoned to heaven on December 28, 2020 after a distinguished career of providing expert and compassionate care for infants and children as a pediatrician for nearly six decades in The Philippines, Canada and the United States, including nearly 30 years in Winter Haven.
A native of the Philippines, Dr. Nelson came to Winter Haven in 1978 with her husband, Kenneth, and their son, Christopher. She started a solo pediatric practice in 1978 and on January 1, 1992 joined Gessler Clinic, teaming up with Dr. Ranjit Silva and later Dr. George Pilapil as the nucleus of the Gessler Clinic Childrens Division. She retired from Gessler Clinic and the practice of medicine on May 31, 2006.
She was born on October 23, 1939 as Elsa Celia Cabal-Purugganan in Manila, Philippines. She was the daughter of Clotilde (Cabal) Purugganan and Catalino Purugganan. She grew up and completed her primary and secondary educations in Roxas, Isabella, Philippines and is survived by one sister, Leticia (Navarro); two brothers, Cesar (wife Teresita) and Jaime (wife Lorie), and countless nieces, nephews and cousins, as well as their children. Elsa's parents and a younger brother, Edmund, preceded her in death.
After graduating from high school, Elsa moved to Manila to pursue her lifelong dream of a medical career. She earned her two-year medical degree at the University of Santo Tomas in 1957 and was awarded her Doctor of Medicine degree from Far Eastern University and license to practice medicine in the Philippines in 1964. Elsa always credited her mother with being the driving force behind her success in achieving her medical degrees and license.
Elsa experienced what she termed 'a major culture shock' when she left her tropical homeland to accept a pediatric internship at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada where she experienced snow and freezing temperatures for the first time in her life. She was elated when her longtime friend and Far Eastern University classmate, Dr. Gracita (Sicom) Simon, was invited by the hospital to join her as an intern. After completing their internships in Canada, Elsa and Gracita came to the United States as pediatric residents at Childrens Hospital in Omaha, NE. Elsa, Gracita, and a nurse, Mercy Naraine, remained lifelong friends. Ken dubbed them the 'three amigos' when he accompanied them on a Baltic Sea cruise a few years ago.
After her pediatric training, Elsa accepted a pediatric residency at Meadowbrook Hospital in Long Island, NY. A milestone in her career came in 1971 when she was chosen for a fellowship in the then new specialty of neonatology at Nassau County Medical Center in East Meadow, NY. She was a member of a team of doctors recognized as neonatology pioneers in a feature story published in the November 29, 1971 Sunday magazine supplement of the New York Daily News. Elsa and Ken met by chance 52 years ago (December 12, 1968 to be exact) in Hawaii when a tour bus they were on stopped at the Pali Lookout. Elsa was in Hawaii just two days en route home to the Philippines for a Christmas visit with her family while Ken was there on a vacation from his job as a newspaper reporter. Their first encounter came when Elsa asked Ken to take a picture of her and a Filipina nurse she met on the bus. They got better acquainted that night enjoying dessert in the restaurant at Elsa's hotel. The next day she flew to Manila and Ken continued his Hawaii vacation by going to Maui. They reunited when Elsa returned to Long Island on January 3, 1969. After dating for almost three years they were married on October 9, 1971 in St. Brigid Catholic Church in Westbury, Long Island.
Following their marriage, they resided in Ken's hometown of Bloomingdale, NJ. He was a reporter for newspapers in North Jersey and she was a hospital-based pediatrician at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ. God blessed the Nelsons when Elsa gave birth to their son, Christopher, on October 6, 1971. Ken and Elsa consider Chris the 'most precious anniversary gift' they ever received since they brought him home from Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pompton Plains, NJ on their first wedding anniversary. Chris resides in Ponta Vedra, FL with his lovely wife, Lora, and their two wonderful sons, Max, 16 and Hudson, 12. A graduate of Jacksonville University, Chris is an internet marketing executive.
In 1975, Elsa, Ken and Chris, who was then just a toddler, moved to West Virginia where she practiced pediatrics in a clinic in the Logan County coal mining community of Man for three years and Ken was a freelance reporter for Associated Press and other media. Elsa became a naturalized US citizen in a ceremony in Charleston, WV on November 24, 1975. That date was significant since it was on Ken's birthday.
After settling in Winter Haven, Elsa invited her then 16-year-old niece, Joy, to emigrate from the Philippines to study nursing at Polk State College. Joy brought great pride to her 'auntie' by earning her nursing degree in 1990 and made her even prouder on December 14, 2019 when she earned her master's degree in nursing at Florida Southern College. Joy has served as a nurse at Winter Haven Hospital for 30 years and is regarded by Elsa and Ken as their daughter.
Throughout her life, Elsa was a devout Catholic with a profound faith in God and special affinity for Mary, mother of Jesus. She made pilgrimages to Lourdes and Fatima and was active in spiritual activities of the Winter Haven Filipino community. She donated a statue of Mary that anchors an outdoor plaza at St. Matthew Catholic Church where she was a parishioner for 40 years. She also built and furnished a Catholic church in a village near her hometown of Roxas called Villa Conception where priests celebrate Mass for villagers every Sunday. The church also hosts spiritual/community gatherings.
In her retirement, there was nothing Elsa enjoyed more than spending quality time with her grandsons, Max and Hudson. In addition to attending church, she enjoyed traveling, gardening, preparing gourmet meals and shopping. Because of the romantic way in which they met in Hawaii, Elsa and Ken made frequently vacationed in the Aloha State, the most recent being a two-week stay in Maui and Oahu in 2018, highlighted by a return visit to the Pali Lookout on December 12 to commemorate and celebrate the 50th anniversary of their memorable first encounter.
Her wonderful life was best summarized in a Facebook post by Chris, which read in part: 'She was the best mother anyone could ask for, to my father she was a lifelong companion and loving wife, but to many in Winter Haven she was known as Doctor Nelson. For nearly 30 years, she served the Winter Haven community doing what she loved best - taking care of her patients as a renowned pediatrician and a person with an abundant compassion for others. In addition to helping the local community, she never forgot where she came from and always took care of her family back in the Philippines. Her inspiring story of coming from a small farm in the Philippines and immigrating to the United States and becoming a naturalized citizen while fulfilling her dream of becoming a doctor made her the epitome of someone truly living and achieving the 'American dream.'
Dr. Nelson's patients and their parents clearly loved her, as did her Pediatric partners, nurses, staff and fellow physicians. She also was loved by her friends and relatives, and most importantly, by her husband and other surviving members of her family in the United States, the Philippines and other countries.
Because of their concern for the health and safety of their relatives, friends and neighbors in this COVID era, Dr. Nelson's family reluctantly restricted attendance at the Funeral Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Winter Haven, the Memorial Service in Oak Ridge Funeral Center and her Burial at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Winter Haven to family members only.