Nellie Marie Simas

Nellie Marie Boatman Simas passed away on July 22, 2011 at the age of 86. Nellie was proud of her ancestry and descended from English, Scotch, Irish and Dutch immigrants, who arrived in America aboard the Mayflower seeking freedom of religion. She remained strong in her Christian beliefs all of her life. She was born in Fort Wayne, Ind. to Alberta and Louis Boatman and she had two sisters, Alberta and Lillian, and a brother Louis. Sadly, her mother died giving birth when Nellie was 6 years old. Nellie cherished memories and keepsakes of her mother all of her life. While in Indiana and during part of the Depression, Nellie and her siblings were cared for by their grandmother while her father sought more profitable work in Washington and Oregon. Later that year, he brought his young children to Pasco, Wash. and later Portland, Ore. It was in Portland that Nellie developed her excellent work ethic, spending time with and working at her aunts’ ice cream parlor and motor inn. Her father moved the family to Klamath Falls, Ore., where Nellie most enjoyed her school years. During her middle school years, this loving young girl became an accomplished babysitter and this was noticed by Klamath Union High Schools’ most beloved English teacher, Mary Ellen Hickman, who needed a sitter for her children Joan and Doug. Through this fortunate friendship, a special relationship developed and Mary Ellen and her husband Ed, the president of the local Weyerhauser, liked Nellie so much they wanted to adopt her. She came to live with them and was treated as their own daughter from that point on. Mary Ellen became, and always was, Mommy to Nellie! After high school and still residing in Klamath Falls, Nellie worked as a telephone operator and in 1945 was employed at a downtown laundry. It was here that she met her handsome Marine, just returned from Pacific duty. Charles “Chuck” Simas from Fort Jones persisted in getting to know the shy beauty, and in five short months they were married and moved to Yreka, where they lived for 58 years. In Yreka, Nellie was welcomed into Chuck’s loving family of six sisters and four brothers. She became a daughter-in-law to the wonderful lady she would always call “my mom,” Philomenia “Minnie” Silva Simas Monnot, whom she dearly loved. Nellie and Chuck had two children, Charlene and Brad. They built their own house on French Street and moved into it in 1955, where they lived throughout their marriage. Nellie was a Girl Scout leader, a Cub Scout den mother, a PTA parent and room mother over a dozen times at Jackson Street Elementary School, and Chuck and she were members (charter members) of the Yreka Elks Lodge #1980 and always a devoted member of the Methodist Church. Nellie was a stay-at-home mom for the next 15 years, never wore long pants until recent years and was a blue-ribbon pie maker many times at the Siskiyou Golden Fair and for our family. In 1962, she began a wonderful career she was devoted to and loved at the Siskiyou County Office of Education as their bookkeeper for 23 years. When she retired in 1985, two persons were hired to perform her job. Nellie was devoted to her family, who loved her, too, with oceans of love (!), and had amazing and wonderful relationships with the granddaughters she adored. She knew all of their friends, as well, and everyone called her Grammie, which she loved. She was preceded in death by her parents, sisters and brother, her husband Chuck and her son Brad. She is survived by her daughter Charlene and son-in-law Robin Broce, who she said was the best man ever; her adored granddaughters and their families: Krista and Eric Knudsen and their children Alexa and Joseph, Shannon and Chris Malone and their children Brandon and Sophia, and Amy and Mike Cordova and their son Ty; as well as the Simas and Silva brothers and sisters-in-law; and many nieces and nephews. Services will be at Girdner Funeral Chapel in Yreka on Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in the family plot. Afterwards, a luncheon and celebration of Nellie’s life will be held at the home of Robin and Charlene for friends and family to visit. Remembrances may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, Madrone Hospice or to a charity of your choice.

Nellie Marie Simas

July 28, 1924 - July 22, 2011