Marjorie Anne (Mulkey) Nelson, age 93, of Los Banos, CA., passed away on Sunday, February 4th, 2018. Marjorie was born on October 9, 1924 in a little hospital on L Street in Los Banos, California to Edmund Lee Mulkey and Klytia (Campbell) Mulkey. She was a fourth generation Californian. Marjorie started school in Los Banos but the majority of her education was in Dos Palos where she was very active in high school, especially playing saxophone in the jazz band.
After high school Marjorie attended Fresno State. She met her future husband and life-long companion, Darwin G. Nelson of Luverne, Minnesota, who was training to become a B17 pilot at Eagle Field, a United States Army Air Corps pilot training center just south of Dos Palos. As World War II progressed, Marjorie moved back to Dos Palos and worked at Eagle Field.
While Darwin was flying missions in Europe, Marjorie joined the United States Navy Waves in October, 1944, went to boot camp in New York and was subsequently assigned to the Naval Intelligence Communications Department in Washington D.C., decoding highly classified messages.
Darwin was liberated from a German POW camp in May, 1945. They were married in Washington D.C. on July 9th, 1945 and spent the next 63 years residing in Los Banos, California.
Marjorie was a school librarian for the Los Banos Unified School District for 35 years. She was a charter member of Saint Alban’s Episcopal Church in Los Banos, active in Order of Eastern Star, and the Milliken Museum Society. Marge and Darwin continued their love of music, singing, and dancing to Big Band music. They played in several bridge clubs and upon retirement traveled extensively in the US and abroad. She loved to entertain, was a gracious hostess and made holidays special for family and friends.
Marjorie is survived by three children Klytia Lu (Nelson) Cozzi & spouse Robert Austin Cozzi; David Alan Nelson and spouse Elizabeth Frances (Schmidt) Nelson; and Daniel Gray Nelson and spouse Nancy Sue (Phillips) Nelson; eight grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
Funeral Services will be held on Friday, February 9th, at 1:00 p.m. at the Whitehurst Funeral Chapel, 1840 S. Center Ave., Los Banos, CA. Following burial at Los Banos Cemetery District, there will be a luncheon at the Espanas Restaurant in Los Banos.
The family thanks the loving caretakers at New Bethany in Los Banos, Somerford Place of Fresno and Optimal Hospice in Fresno.
Donations may be made in Marge’s memory to the Milliken Museum Society, P.O. Box 2294, Los Banos, CA, 93635.