Sister Dantzel Nelson, wife of Elder Russell M. Nelson, passed away unexpectedly this evening at her home in Salt Lake City. Elder Nelson was with his wife at the time. The cause of death was not immediately known. Funeral arrangements are pending.
A sister's childhood illness created a lifelong impact on Dantzel White Nelson. As a preschooler, she participated in singing lessons orchestrated by her bed ridden sister. After the older sister's lengthy convalescence and return to Box Elder High School, she invited Dantzel to perform on numerous school assemblies. The three-year-old's love of musical performance blossomed from that time on and she spent a lifetime singing.
Dantzel White was born 17 February 1926 on the family farm in Perry, Utah, to LeRoy Davis White and Maude Clark White. The Whites had a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters. Dantzel graduated as the "Outstanding Senior Girl" at Box Elder High School in nearby Brigham City, then attended the University of Utah on scholarship. Awarded a bachelor of science degree in education with a secondary certification, she taught music and speech at the Hawthorne Elementary School in Salt Lake City and took a teaching assignment in Minneapolis the following year.
Her many musical connections at the university provided a setting for her courtship with Russell M. Nelson. The pair met as cast members in a Broadway-bound musical, "Hayfoot, Strawfoot." They dated for three years, then married 31 August 1945 in the Salt Lake Temple.
Accompanying her husband as he pursued his medical education, the pair lived in Minnesota, Washington D.C. and Boston before returning to Salt Lake City in 1956.
The Nelsons had nine daughters, Marsha, Wendy, Gloria, Brenda, Sylvia, Emily, Laurie, Rosalie, Marjorie, and one son, Russell M. They enjoyed their 56 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
Though family concerns and issues occupied Dantzel's life as she tutored her houseful of children, she took time to serve in the community and in church. Always involved in the educational activities of her children, Dantzel participated in PTA service in the schools. She was a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for twenty years.
The untimely passing of her daughter, Emily, a young mother of five children, counted as one of the most difficult experiences of Dantzel's life. Shared family experiences surrounding Emily's death brought the rest of the Nelson family closer together.
Events in the extended Nelson family are chronicled monthly in a detailed and illustrated newsletter originated by Dantzel. In existence for more than twenty years, the Nelson News provides a solid bridge to family communications and relationships.
Supporting her husband,
Elder Russell M. Nelson who was called to be an apostle in The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in April of 1984,
interacting with her large family and delighting in good music gave
Dantzel Nelson a full and rewarding life.