ROCKFORD, IL (August 24, 2011) – A funeral service will be conducted on Friday for Sigrid Nelson, widow of deceased Evangelical Covenant pastor Robert H. Nelson, who died Monday at The Holmstad in Batavia.
The service will begin at 1 p.m. at First Evangelical Covenant Church, 316 Wood Road in Rockford. Visitation will be observed just prior to the service, from noon to 12:45 p.m. at the church.
The couple pastored the Valley Evangelical Covenant Church in Stillman Valley, Illinois, before going to Ecuador in 1949, where they spent nearly 20 years. Following additional pastorates in California and Alaska, the couple returned to missionary service in Mexico, serving first in La Villa, Texas, and then in Mexico City.
Her husband, Robert, died in 1996.
Memorials may be directed to Covenant World Mission, 8303 West Higgins Road, Chicago, IL, 60631, or to The Holmstad Benevolence Fund, 700 West Fabyan Parkway, Batavia, IL, 60510.
More information will be published by Covenant News Service as it becomes available.
I remember the Nelsons when they first went to Ecuador at the time of the establishment of HCJB in Quito. They were one of the missionary families being supported by First Covenant Church of Denver, Colo., during the pastorate of my father, the Rev. Paul E. Palmquist. We always looked forward to their visits when on furlough in the states. I also recall when my father used to visit a Ham radio operator in East Denver who had made a short wave radio contact with the Nelsons and they could spend some time consulting “live” on a Ham radio-telephone link that the radio hobbyist had established. God bless all of our missioneries, and may we remember the selfless work they accomplish in the mission field on our behalf. God be with them wherever they are called to preach the Word.