Patty Nelson, 81, Palm Desert, Calif., died April 22, 2012. She was born near Earlton. She grew up with her parents, Ira and Vivian Lowmaster, near Urbana. She has a twin sister, Peggy Knapp, who resides in Placentia, Calif.

Patty graduated from Chanute High School in 1948 where she and her twin sister were cheerleaders for the Chanute Comets, 1947-1948 school year.

She married Gordon Nelson on Nov. 4, 1950 in Reno, Nev. They lived in Oakland, Calif., while Gordon finished U.S. Navy electronic school and then moved on to Port Huename, Calif., Naval Station where they lived until April 1953. They lived in various cities until 1955 when they lived in Anaheim, Calif. In 1961 they moved to Huntington Beach where they raised their family until moving to Alta Loma in 1978. They have been residing in Palm Desert since 1984.

She is survived by her loving husband, Gordon; a daughter, Debbi Esmay, Palm Desert, her daughter, Jessica Talley and husband, Brock, and their son William who live in Cedar Park, Texas, another daughter, Cynthia Pederson and her husband, Ronald, their daughter Gina Cone and husband, Mike, and their twin sons, Nelson and Easton, all of Badger, Iowa; their son, Nick and wife, Amy, and their son Cal Gordon, of Fort Dodge, Iowa.