Eleanor Jean Trusendi Nelson, Ellie, of Ojai, California passed away at her home in Ojai on the 21st of June, not many days after her 87th birthday. Ellie was born in Geyserville, California, the first child of Allan and Enes Trusendi, on the 12th of July of 1934. She grew up among a large extended family in the close knit farming community of Geyserville, graduating from Geyserville High School in 1952. She went on to study nursing at St. Joseph's College of Nursing in San Francisco, run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Becoming a registered nurse in 1955 she began a life-long career in nursing, starting out in the emergency room of San Francisco General Hospital. After beginning her family, she continued her career later in Ojai.
In San Francisco she met Robert James Nelson on a blind date arranged by mutual friends and they were married in 1957. Together they enjoyed a rich and full life for fifty-eight years. Bob’s work with the US Forest Service took them first to King City, then on to Santa Maria and Santa Barbara, before coming to what would be their home in Ojai in 1969. There they raised four children, Bob continuing to work in Ojai until retirement, and Ellie continuing her career in nursing first at St. Joseph’s Convalescent and The Gables before joining the beginnings of home health in Ventura County as a visiting nurse with Livingston where she worked for many years. Being able to help people one on one was her ideal of nursing. Finally she was discharge planner at the Continuing Care Center of Ojai until her retirement in 2013, though she retained her nurse’s license until 2018.
After retirement she enjoyed being able to dedicate more time to traveling with Bob and to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Parish in Ojai. Ellie was a woman of deep faith and St. Thomas Aquinas Church was an important part of her life, her church home, a place of many deep and lasting friendships throughout her life. She was an active volunteer in various ministries at the parish, serving the community in the food pantry, visiting the sick and home bound and assisting the grieving. Fond of spending time with friends and family, she enjoyed making possible many memorable celebrations.
Ellie lost Bob in 2015 and is survived by the four children they raised during their life together: Fr. William Nelson, OSB, Thomas Nelson and his wife Kate, Catherine McKinnis and Teri Nelson. She is also survived by her brother Richard Trusendi, his wife Judith and their son Christopher, as well as by her grandchildren Joshua, Rachel, Kelcie, Sarah and Dylan, six great grand children and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
The family wishes to extend their gratitude to all her many, many friends in Ojai and all over the world for their gift of love and care throughout a long and fruitful life, and to the Livingston Memorial Hospice for their compassionate care during her final month at home.
Family and friends are invited to a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated on Thursday July 29, 2021 at 11 a.m. in St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church, 185 St. Thomas Drive, Ojai. Interment will be in Olive Hill Cemetery, Geyserville, California.