Marlene Nelson, 87 year old formerly of Long Prairie, passed away on Thursday, August 28, 2025, at her daughters home in Lino Lakes. 

A funeral service in her honor will take place on Friday, September 5, 2025, at American Lutheran Church in Long Prairie at 11:00 AM. Visitation will take place at the church one hour prior to the funeral service. Burial will immediately follow at the Evergreen Cemetery in Long Prairie.

Marlene Carol Nelson, age 87, formally of Long Prairie, MN passed away peacefully Thursday, August 28, 2025, at her home in Lino Lakes, MN. She was born on December 18, 1937, in Long Prairie, MN to Henry and Leona Shinabarger. Marlene grew up in rural Long Prairie and often talked about how life had changed since she was a girl on the farm. She attended country school until eighth grade and then attended Long Prairie High School where she enjoyed singing in the choir. She was an avid roller skater and spent many hours at the Roller Rink. During high school she became pen pals with a handsome AirForce man, John Nelson, and they fell in love through letters. She liked to tell the story of how he drove his motorcycle from Louisiana to meet her in person. Her friend’s dad was sheriff in Long Prairie at the time, and the designated meeting place was the courthouse. She liked to shock people and say, “I met John at the jail.” They were married June 22, 1956, at First Baptist Church in Long Prairie and enjoyed 58 years together. John and Marlene raised three children, Terri, Julie, and Michael, in a family neighborhood at the south end of Lake Charlotte. She enjoyed raising her children, entertaining the neighbors, gardening, crafts, baking, and was an expert candy maker. She was known especially for her special peanut brittle. Summer days were filled with swimming, boating, and camping, and Fall with freezing corn and making strawberry jam. Marlene was always up for an adventure and liked to try new things. She and John would harvest wild rice in their canoe for extra cash, and she and the neighbor ladies would go “frogging” and sell the frogs to Barefoot Louie. He would sell them for research or serve them at his restaurant! Marlene and John joined the American Lutheran Church shortly after their marriage. She was baptized there on December 2, 1965, and found much joy and peace in knowing her sure salvation and promised eternal life through Jesus Christ. She volunteered as church secretary for several years, typing on a manual typewriter, running the bulletins on the mimeograph machine in her basement, and folding bulletins around the kitchen table on Saturday nights. In the 1970’s Marlene started working at Long Prairie Elementary School as a Paraprofessional Aid. She specialized in helping students with reading and math. She used computer programming for education when it was quite new and continued to learn new technology through the years. She was especially happy to be able to Facetime with her older brother in Arizona as well as her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In 2016 Marlene moved to the St. Paul area to be closer to family. She attended Community of Grace Lutheran Church in White Bear Lake. She loved the worship services and made new friends, especially through the quilting ministry. She sewed quilt tops at home and stopped counting after she got to five hundred! She enjoyed sewing and knowing she was blessing someone else through her work. Marlene took special joy in getting to know her grandchildren and great grandchildren and loved to engage in conversation. She liked to reward the little ones with quarters for running errands for her and they all knew where she kept her stash of KitKats that were always handy. Marlene’s joy filled life and grateful attitude stemmed from her solid belief in the truth of the Bible, and her assurance of eternal life with Jesus. May we all be so blessed. Marlene was preceded in death by her husband, John Nelson; parents, Henry Shinabarger and Leona Cizek and her brother, Dennis Shinabarger. She is survived by her brother, Larry Shinabarger; daughter, Terri Nelson (Jerry), daughter, Julie Terwey and son, Michael Nelson (Judy); grandchildren, Matthew Nelson, Aaron Nelson, Emily Herset, Adam Terwey, David Terwey, Rachel Saladin, Sam Terwey, Jordan Danielson, Kate Nelson and fourteen great-grandchildren. Service of Christian Burial will be on Friday, September 5, 2025, at 11:00 at American Lutheran Church in Long Prairie, MN. Visitation will be one hour before. Interment immediately follows at Evergreen Cemetery.