JARS v51n4 - In Memoriam: Raymonde Nelson

In Memoriam: Raymonde Nelson

A cheerful presence is gone from the Seattle Chapter with the passing of Raymonde Nelson. Members are not likely to forget the image of a big motorized wheel chair rolling into every chapter meeting, topped by a little lady with smiles for everyone. The public also viewed this image at every flower show and information booth presented by the chapter. (She held our record for the number of new members applications.) Members of other chapters may have noticed her at our annual conventions. She loved to travel and seldom missed one of these occasions.

Long before the wheel chair was needed she was performing these functions and many others. In the years when an awards banquet followed every flower show, she was our perennial banquet arranger. Usually she had already performed some functions in the presentation of the show several times as show chairperson. The Seattle Chapter took note of all this by presenting her with the Bronze Medal.

Raymonde was born in Paris, France, in 1926. She lived with her parents at a number of places in Europe and in the United States. She was graduated from UCLA in 1946 with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Graduate studies followed at George Washington University, where she met her husband. His career brought them to Seattle, where they raised four children. She then taught kindergarten for 20 years, still finding time to belong to an amazing array of organizations. She often busied herself, during dismantling of shows, gathering the freshest of floral material for decorating her school. She will be greatly missed.