Billy Graham Center

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Archives
From the Obituary of C. Jane Nelson,
posted on the Hultgren Funeral Homse site

C. Jane Nelson, age 96, a resident of Wheaton, went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, September 27, 2017. 

Jane was born June 20, 1921 in Moline, IL to John and Selma Nelson, the younger of 2 daughters who were 15 years apart. Jane was the first American born of their Swedish family, her sister being born in Sweden.

Her mother's parents, August and Caroline Fogelsdrom, were recruited to work steel in the John Deere factories in the 1880’s. August had an active Christian faith and had been a good bible student at Upsala University in Sweden so when he came to the US, he established the first Evangelical Church of Sweden known as Swedish Evangelical Free Church in Moline. 

Selma was the oldest of 6, she married John Amel Nelson who had come to the US as a 17 year old. They were married in 1905, their first child was born in 1906, Dorothy, Jane’s older sister. Jane came along 15 years later. 

Jane was named after her grandmother, Carolina (Lina) but Dorothy (Jane’s older sister) did not want her name to be called Lina so Jane was her called name. That is where you get C. Jane Nelson. For any of you who knew Jane, she is very proud of her Swedish heritage. 

John, Jane’s father, was a cabinet maker (her bookcase and piano bench were made by her father). He also made organ cabinets but then the Great Depression hit. For the next 10 years people were not buying organs. John found himself jobless like so many people. He had purchased some land across the street from where they lived (3118 14th Street, Moline) and grew apples, corn, raspberries and strawberries which he went door to door selling to support the family. Jane’s family were the first to get a gas stove in the neighborhood which replaced their wood stove.

Jane recalled that on Dec. 31, 1931, when she was 13, she went to her mother after everyone had gone to bed, concerned about heaven. Jane asked her mother how she could be assured of going to heaven and her mother led her to her personal, life-long faith in Jesus Christ. 

Both of Jane’s parents were involved with the Free Church in Moline where her father was a deacon and her mother was in charge of the Ladies Aid Society for 28 years. They were also a part of building a new brick church which is still being used. 

Jane graduated from high school in 1939. At that time, you did not go to college unless you were rich or were going to a profession like nursing school or teaching. Jane went to work, following her sister’s footsteps, in the secretarial work force. She first worked for a law firm. Her boss was Jim Johnson who had the official title “referee for bankruptcy.” She worked there from 1939 to 1944.

She quit her job and moved to Albuquerque, NM with two other women to work at an Air Force base. One the day they arrived, one of the two women learned that her husband was killed in a plane crash, so Jane moved back to Moline and went to work for John Deere in the advertising department from 1944-48. 

In Moline, there was a young attorney who was elected to the IL legislature in Springfield to serve with Governor Adlai Stevenson II. This young attorney recommended that Jane come to Springfield to be the secretary to the state treasurer and she accepted the job. A friend of Jane’s in Moline had a sister in Springfield who just happened to have a room to rent.  Jane rented the room from January 1949 to November 1950. The room was right across from the state capital! The morning before she heard of the room opening, she was praying Ephesians 3:20, 21 “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.” God had provided this place in Springfield for her to work and live. 

She met Chet Nelson in 1949. They knew each other from their church in Moline. Chet had lost his first wife who died suddenly and he was going to see his brother-in-law in Louisville. On the way he stopped by to see Jane. They fell in love and got married a year later. Jane did not have to change her last name since Chet’s was Nelson as well. They married on November 18, 1950 while Chet was working for J. I. Case in Bettendorf, IA. Jane went to work for John Deere and in 1951 Chet was hired by the John Deere International Division because of his manufacturing expertise. In 1967, Chet went to Sydney Australia and met Billy Graham who was doing a Crusade in Sydney and staying in the same hotel. Jane went out to Sydney to be with Chet in 1969 - 71. 

When they returned to Moline, because of a recession in farm equipment, Chet left John Deere and went looking for work in the summer of 1971. He received a job in Indianapolis as a superintendent of a plant for Insley Manufacturing, making heavy equipment. 

Chet died in July 1973. Jane stayed in Indianapolis after Chet’s death, attending a Christian Missionary Alliance Church called Hope Church. She was then working for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Indianapolis. She knew life was short and when Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ had come on the scene, Jane began asking the Lord where she could serve Him. A man by the name of Dr. Will Norton, a longtime friend, asked Jane to come to Wheaton College and work as a secretary for the Director of what was to become the Billy Graham Center (BGC). Jane was interviewed by Don Hope, a missionary in Japan for many years and director of the International Conference held at Luzerne. He was to be the director of the Billy Graham Center that was soon to be built. After her interview on Saturday, Jane was called on Sunday and offered the job. So Jane moved from Indianapolis to Wheaton.

She had to sell her home in Indianapolis in dead of winter but the Lord took care of that. It was sold on New Year’s Day and on February 1, 1975, Jane began working at the BGC. She helped with the dedication of the BGC in 1980 and retired in 1995. She was very involved in the Billy Graham Scholarship Program and has been encouraging International students who have come through that program ever since. In fact, she often has had visitors through the years and received many, many cards from those lives she touched while at the BGC and working with the Billy Graham Scholarship Program. 

Jane is survived by extended family and many dear friends.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 7, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. at The Compass Church, 520 E. Roosevelt Rd., Wheaton.

Memorial gifts may be directed to Billy Graham Center, WMBI or "For His Glory".