Jean Ann "Lebanon" Nelson

Jean Ann Nelson was born on September 25, 1962, to Susanne (Petersen) Drake in Joplin, Missouri. She passed away on March 11, 2026, in Springfield, Missouri, at the age of sixty-three.

Jean grew up in the Springfield area before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she graduated from Union High School in 1981. In 1982 she met her true love and best friend, Stuart Nelson. They married on April 9, 1983, at Community Christian Church in Tulsa and shared forty-two years of marriage filled with family, hard work, laughter, and love. The couple lived in several places throughout the Midwest, and Jean was proud to stay home and raise their two children, Christopher and Seanna.

She was preceded in death by her mother and her husband Stuart, who passed away on December 28, 2025. Jean is survived by her children, Christopher Nelson and his wife Charity, and Seanna Kalivoda and her husband Sam of Manhattan, Kansas; and four grandchildren, Oliver, Arthur, and Journey Nelson, and Elijah Kalivoda.

In recent years Jean and Stuart attended Hillside Christian Church in Marshfield. She loved God and looked forward to being reunited with her husband. Jean found joy in sewing, quilting, and crocheting, especially making clothes and Halloween costumes for her grandchildren. She was an avid reader, enjoyed mystery movies, and was known for her dry sense of humor and willingness to speak her mind. Above all, she cherished her family, and her grandchildren were her pride and joy. She will be remembered as a devoted wife, beloved mother, and cherished grandmother whose love, faith, and kindness touched everyone who knew her.