Nellie Moser
(1933-2005)

Jesus
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that have ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As that ONE SOLITARY LIFE

From One Solitary Life by James A. Francis

Alliance Review Obituary
May 15, 2005

“Nellie Moser passed away suddenly in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday morning, May 3, 2005.

“She was born to Corwin and Nora Moser on April, 1933, at the family farm near Minerva, Ohio.

“She lived a very active life as a school teacher of Bible in Rockingham County, Virginia, was Assistant Dean of Women at Asbury College, and taught in the public schools system in Lexington, Ky. She was retired in 2003 after 37 years of service at the United Methodist Publishing House, where she served in various supervisory and executive editorial roles in adult resources.

“She was instrumental in the vision and development of the Disciple Bible Study Program, Christian Believer, and Jesus in the Gospels.

“She graduated from Augusta High School in 1951 and from Asbury College in Kentucky. In 1997, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Asbury Theological Seminary for her work in the Disciple program. She continued her education throughout her life and was especially active in archaeology, having participated in archaeological field work in Israel, Majorca, and Swaziland.

“She is survived by two sisters, Ruth Felger (Carl) of Minerva, Ohio, and Mamie Custer (George) of Alliance, Ohio; four brothers, Wilbur Moser of Frostproof, Fla., Robert Moser of Minerva, Ohio, Corwin Moser (Jean) of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Kenneth Moser (Deanna), of Massillon, Ohio; and her special friends and coworkers, Evelyn Andre and Wini Grizzel. She is also survived by a number of a nieces and nephews.

“Memorial services were held at Calvary United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., on May 6, 2005, and at the United Methodist Publishing House also of Nashville on May 11, 2005.

“A memorial services will be held at Pleasant Grove at a later date.

“Memorial contributions may be made to ‘the Journey’ at Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church.”

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Remembering Nellie

A dear friend of hers from Germany once wrote her:

“Nellie, you are a special human with a special charisma and an innate elegance (distinguished, noble, I have not the right word – German “Vornehmheit”).”*

*distinguished ways; refinement

Carla Unkefer, niece, writes:

Nellie would be the first to say she was not a saint. She was human like the rest of us with saintly thoughts and actions along with those that showed her foibles.  Nellie was aware of her humanity and all it brings to each of us…and lived her life with purpose and grace, always working to achieve full partnership with others and with her beloved Jesus.  My memory of Nellie was similar to her German friend’s – she displayed a certain nobleness combined with humility, finding and encouraging the potential in everyone and appreciating the art in all things created.

One Solitary Life was part of her small but mighty library in her home in Nashville, Tennessee.   She worked as Editor for the United Methodist Publishing House and practiced her faith with everyone, including all members of Calvary Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

She continued her education throughout her life and was especially active in archaeology, having participated in archaeological fieldwork in Israel, Majorca and Swaziland.

Nellie was born on April 1, 1933.  Yes, we always got a kick out of teasing her about being an April Fool’s child!

Nellie was inspired to attend Asbury College in Lexington, Kentucky, by Reverend Karl Wilson, pastor for a time at the United Methodist Church in Minerva, Ohio.  She involved herself in many functions of the church along with her oldest sister, Ruth Moser Felger and family.  Ruth remembers that Nellie’s college tuition was paid for, in part, by Grandma Moser’s egg money!  Grandma Moser’s chickens were legendary among our family.  People came from ‘all over’ to buy her eggs. If you spent any time on the farm, you learned how to ‘gather eggs’. 🙂

Mark Price, who worked with Nellie:

She was classic and a true student of the Bible; she knew which scholars knew what about the Bible, because she read what they wrote. She knew the land of the Bible, because she owned every Bible atlas in print and spent her summers digging in the land of Israel.

She knew how artists across the centuries and from around the world visualized the Bible, because she was always on the lookout for art books to add to her collection. She knew the music and hymnody inspired by the Bible, because she listened to it regularly. Nellie knew her Bible because she studied it like few others dared.

One brother, Corey, writes:

“Life on the farm was pleasant but lacked the opportunity for much socialization. We attended school and church, had some contact with close neighbors and little else. It was at the time of the Great Depression and WWII so was probably very typical of farm communities of that era.

From my perspective, there was little or no overt support of education as we were in a survival mode. Being farmers, there was no lack of food and the family was stable but little attention was paid to activities not directly involved with providing for a livelihood.  However, all seven children attended and graduated from public school.

Nellie and I loved school and both were excellent students (valedictorians of our respective classes). I cannot pinpoint a specific time when either of us “decided” to attend college.  It seems more like we just knew that it was what we were supposed to do.

I think Nellie’s obsession with education, and instilling in others the same love of learning, began very early in her school experience.

When Nellie was in fifth grade, I in first, she borrowed from her small classroom library a book entitled  Planes For Bob and Andy and brought it home for me to read. It was the first book I read cover to cover.  Not only did she introduce me to a love of reading but may have had some influence on my eventual career choice (Editor note:  Corey’s career was as an Air Force Navigator).

Although I cannot identify any specific instance to verify this, I always had the sense that she was closely monitoring my progress throughout my early schooling.

Much later, following her graduation from Asbury College in Lexington, Kentucky, she began teaching in Virginia. However, she really loved the area around Lexington and so returned there, took her Master’s from University of Kentucky and taught in that area for some time.

Eventually she became employed by The United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH), moved to Nashville and remained there. Not long before she retired, in recognition of her contributions to a UMPH bible study program, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Education degree by Asbury Theological Seminary.

As is evident by her own career choices, Nellie was always involved in learning and in engendering that desire in everyone with whom she had contact. Her gifts to friends and family were always carefully selected books which were sure to appeal to the recipient. I don’t think she was aware of this but family members read and then shared these books with others for many years. The scholarship trust fund is a product of her lifelong ambition to encourage others to get involved in the education process.”

Her youngest brother, Ken, (and the last child born to Corwin and Nora) relays this memory:

“I was just starting grade school and Nellie was already in high school.  We actually got to know her better later in life, even though we didn’t get to see her often.

There is one event that I remember when I was a young kid, however. Nellie had a friend in high school named Fred Magee. Fred lived near Hanoverton, Ohio and he had an airplane, a yellow and black Piper Cub.  He would sometimes come flying over the house and barn, circling around and waving the wings.  I came to know his airplane by sight. One day he was flying and circling around, and I noticed he was getting lower and lower.  And then I didn’t see him anymore, but I knew where I had last seen him.

I ran up the hill behind the house to where the farm property joined Ralph Pore’s property, where there is a long hay field that lays east and west. There was Fred and the airplane sitting on the ground where he had landed on the flat part of the field.  I ran back to the house and got Nellie and Corey.  We went back to where Fred was, and he took them up for a ride in the airplane. I don’t know if Fred and Nellie were in the same class, but he must have liked her.  Nellie had brains and beauty!”

A niece, Terrie Moser Krinsky, remembers:

“My contacts with Nellie were limited by geography; our meetings were rare and usually brief. However, there are a few events that shone brightly and cemented my love and respect for Nellie.

When I was in junior high school, Nellie gifted me a beautiful ring set in silver with a carved pink ivory rose. This was Daddy’s gift to her when he returned from Japan after WWII. I treasured it.

About 1987, give or take a year, I had the privilege of attending a week-long work-related convention in Nashville. Daddy (Wilbur) and Mom traveled via his airplane to Nashville to visit me and a friend for the weekend. Part of that visit included dinner at a Chinese restaurant with Nellie and Evelyn. It was a joyous event, lots of talking and laughter. That was my first significant connection with Nellie. Her hospitality and manners were those of a southern belle.

Many years passed. Our next meeting took place when Grandma Moser passed away, and both Nellie and I were in Ohio to attend the funeral. A day or two after the funeral, the sisters (Ruth, Mamie, and Nellie) and my mom and I went to grandma’s house to sort through her jewelry and other belongings. This was another joyous event that brought me even closer to my aunts; there were tears, but there was also much storytelling and laughter. As fate would have it, Nellie and I had same-day flights home and within hours of each other, so it only made sense that we would drive to the airport together in my rental car. The trip went quickly; it seemed we would never run out of stories about the Moser family. Dropping Nellie at her concourse, I was thinking what a wonderful new friend I had made. As it turned out, that was the last time I saw Nellie.

Nellie’s sudden passing was way too soon and deeply felt by all the family. I returned to Ohio for the beautiful memorial service. Nellie’s generosity was apparent in that she willed money to each niece and nephew who had lost a parent. That included Robert’s kids, who lost their mother Dorothy too early, and my brothers Tim, David, and me; we lost Mom in 2004.

After Nellie’s memorial, Daddy, Corey, Ken, Carla, and I drove to Nashville to clean out Nellie’s house. It was backbreaking work in 100+ degree weather, especially for the men who did the heavy lifting and worked in the extremely hot attic. Nellie’s house was a home, and it reflected all the best qualities of Nellie. I was fortunate to be there, lucky to have a few keepsakes from Nellie, and very blessed to have this time with my Dad, uncles Corey and Ken, and cousin Carla. The days were demanding work, but the evenings were wonderful. Playing Scrabble and sharing food and stories with family is as good as it gets.

We are all lucky to have had such an amazing relative as Nellie, and many of us also developed a friendship with Nellie’s dearest friend Evelyn.”

A niece-in-law, Donna Moser, remembers:

“The first thing that comes to mind regarding Nellie is Israel. I was completely fascinated that she had been there.  I never knew much about her travels, but they made her seem so interesting and independent. My one memory of her that stands out was the years she made the big Thanksgiving dinner in Grandma Moser’s upstairs dining room. . It was the fanciest set up I’d ever seen.  She just seemed so classy to me, but she never made me feel unaccepted. I do remember that when she came to the farm, she always stopped up to see me and complimented me on my flowers.”