Odessa Marie (Johnson) Nelson

Odessa Marie Nelson, 84, was born August 10, 1933 in Larned, KS.  She was the only daughter of Marjorie and Merle Johnson.  Her dad was in the Air Force during WWII and she lived in different places in life, but one of the most important to her was Kansas. 

Odessa loved all animals but most of her life revolved around horses.  She always said she would never marry a man who didn’t like horses and she got her wish when she married Harold Alan (Bud) Nelson on September 15, 1954.  Bud and Odessa raised registered quarter horses on their farm south of Garfield and Odessa came up with unique and different names for most all the horses they ever registered.  She also kept all the detailed bloodline information about each horse.

During the course of her married life she raised 4 children with Bud:  Jean Marie, Ruth Ann, Rita Sue and William Alan (Bill) Nelson.  Odessa and Bud also farmed near Garfield and raised some cattle too.  Over the years Odessa learned how to drive wheat trucks, and tractors and always helped with the chores.  She also worked at different times at the Pawnee County Courthouse in Larned for the County Clerks Office and County Treasurers Office.

Another thing Odessa was good at was drawing.  She liked drawing horses.  She had a notebook filled with many horse pictures and diagrams of stables and barns she had imagined to own one day.  She won an art scholarship when her dad was stationed in Indianapolis, Indiana, but never got to use it because they had to move again.

Odessa always had a library card and read lots of books.  Her favorite of course were westerns, but she read different kinds over the years.  After Bud died in 2010 she said the books gave her a lot of comfort.  Odessa never quite got over being without Bud and on March 8, 2018 she went to be with the Lord the very same day as Bud had passed in 2010. 

Odessa had 3 grandchildren;  Jake Menard, Luke Menard and Arheal Rodriguez and 4 great grandchildren;  Andrea Menard, Kiara Menard, Alyssa Carrillo, and Hugo Carrillo Jr.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Odessa Marie (Johnson) Nelson, please visit our floral store.