A Celebration of Life For Jan Nelson to be June 13

Details

Category: Obituaries

Created on Friday, 11 June 2021 14:36

Hits: 5735

Janette (Haugen) Nelson

Janette (Haugen) Nelson passed away at the Sitka Pioneers Home Sept. 17, 2020, after a short illness with acute leukemia. A celebration of her life will be held 2-4 p.m. Sunday, June 13, at the Sitka Elks Lodge.

All are invited to attend and celebrate Jan’s life with her family and friends.

Jan was born to Carl and Hilda (Folvag) Haugen on March 22, 1939, in Williston, North Dakota. She was the youngest of five girls, and had a younger brother. Her family were hard-working farmers west of Williston. At a young age, Jan and her sisters were out tending the garden and, later, helped her dad at harvest time.

Jan graduated from Williston High School in 1957, and went to St. Olaf’s College, Northfield, Minnesota, where she obtained a business certificate.

Jan met Larry Nelson after returning home from college. They were married in February 1959, and shortly thereafter their daughter Tammy arrived, in Moses Lake, Washington, where Larry was stationed in the Air Force. Jan and Tammy returned to Williston where Jan worked for the local Piggly Wiggly as a bookkeeper while Larry was transferred to Travis Air Base in California. The family was soon reunited in California and Jan worked for an onion factory as a bookkeeper, and as a long distance operator for Bell Telephone Co.

In 1968, Alaska called and off they moved to Juneau, where Jan was employed by the State of Alaska, Department of Transportation.

In 1971 the family moved to Sitka, where Jan resided ever since. Jan was employed by Hames Corp. as their office manager for 17 years. She quickly integrated herself into the community, serving as a board member for the Girl Scouts as well as the Alaska Lung Association in Sitka.

She also was active in Alaska Crippled Children and Adults, associated with the Easter Seal Society, which founded the White Elephant Shop. Jan volunteered and later became president – and a core part – of the shop for 25 years. She was proud of the contributions the White Elephant Shop has made to the community and Sitkans over the years. When she stepped down as president, the shop had donated over $1 million to various organizations in Sitka, and in assistance to those in need of glasses or medical flight assistance.

Sitkans Against Family Violence twice selected Jan for its annual Honoring Women program, which recognizes outstanding women of the community. Jan was gratified to be included.

Jan was predeceased by her husband of 47 years, Larry Nelson; her parents Carl and Hilda Haugen; her in-laws Arne and Ruth Nelson; her sisters Cora Hagen, Loretta Hayward Perry, and Mariann Jacobson Juelke; her brother Carlton Haugen; and her son-in-law Dean Antoniadis.

Jan is survived by her daughter Tammy Antoniadis (Alex Gonzalez) of Sitka; her grandsons Jeremy Gray and his daughter Winter Gray of Spokane, Washington, and Kelsy Gray of Juneau; her sister Shirley Smith of Arvada, Colorado; her sister-in-law Elaine Sommers (Al) of Wahpeton, North Dakota; brother-in-law Arnold Nelson of Williston, North Dakota; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

“Please come and enjoy yourself at her celebration of life and meet many of her relatives, who are coming to town to celebrate,” a family member said.

Any memories to share may be sent to her daughter, Tammy Antoniadis at P.O. Box 2292, Sitka, AK 99835 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

• < Prev
• Next >