Biography for Eleanor Nielsen
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I, Eleanor Nielsen, was born a long time ago in Trowbridge Twp. Allegan, MI. My mother gave birth to me on a beautiful day in the month of May, in the living room of my grandparents’ home. Mom said the lilacs had already started to bloom. Our family was relatively small, with a brother five years older and a sister seven years younger. We were depression and war kids. My father worked very hard to provide for us, at odd jobs, anything that he could find, at one point a factory worker at Blood Bros. and finally as a water well-driller in our area. Mom was a stay at home mom, who cared wonderfully for our family.
My roots go very deep in Allegan County. Many of my ancestors were early settlers here in this area (hard-working souls who made their living by clearing the land and then tilling the soil to provide for their families). Several of my grandparents and great-grandparents lived well into their 90’s who resided in our fair county. My great-grandmother, my mother, two of my children and I all attended the same rural school here in Trowbridge.
My chosen career had always been to teach; which I did in those days of the rural school, but then our children became a priority. My husband Al & I have three beautiful children. My son, Tim, has his doctorate in Metallurgical engineering. He and his wife, Linda, have given us three wonderful grandsons and a lovely little Korean granddaughter. Our daughter, Chris, followed my lead and is a teacher in Nebraska (also starting in a rural school, with two students, out in the Sand Hills area). Our youngest daughter, Anita, is a computer programmer and has given us a very special granddaughter. (The teaching instinct continued, and I have been involved in 4-H for about 35 years.)
After the children were in school, I went back to assist in the classroom as a volunteer, and was later hired as a Teachers Assistant. Many of those years were spent working with special needs and at-risk children. My husband and I have both retired from Allegan Public Schools (he as head bus mechanic and me from the classroom). But that didn’t last long; I’m now leading a group of senior citizens, called Lifelong Learners (my kids). We meet weekly during the school year, and I’ve found that none of us are ever too old to learn, and that when you are involved with them how quickly they get entangled in your heart strings.
We shared responsibility with Al’s siblings, as his parents began to age and needed assistance from the family to stay in their own home as long as was possible.
I have been involved in the political arena as a servant to those who elected me. In fact, 100 years after one of my Great-great-grandfathers had been Trowbridge Twp. clerk, I was elected to that office. I served in that capacity for about eight years then was approached to become a County commissioner, which I did for the next ten years. During this time I was appointed to represent our county on the board of the Area Agency on Aging of West Michigan which is one of the funding sources for senior programs in our county, and I still maintain that status, except now I’m there as a consumer, still representing our wonderful county. I am also on the board of ACRDC and have been for over 20 years, which is an agency that provides services to those in need in Allegan County of all ages, including our senior citizens.