Eve F. Nelson
Mar 18th, 2018
East Dennis: Eve. F. Nelson, born Eva Fratontoni in 1921 in the Bronx, NY to Luigi and Rose (Albano) Fratontoni, passed away peacefully in her sleep on March 18, 2018. She graduated from Walton High School and Drake Business College. Mrs. Nelson managed her parents’ bakeries in Mt. Vernon, NY and subsequently worked in Greenwich Village as a comptometer operator for Aero Space Aeronautics that made spark plugs for the war. At that time, she met and married the love of her life, William Nelson, a handsome Navy sailor.
After the war, Eve and Bill moved to Garrison, NY to be close to her family. At that time, Mr. Nelson worked for West Point and Sonitone. In 1956 Bill was hired by the State of New Jersey to manage the Marlboro State Hospital maintenance department. Several years after moving there, Eve and a business partner developed a music and art school, Leneve Music.
In 1983 when Bill retired and they moved to their home in East Dennis to enjoy the following years surrounded by family; their son, Steve, their daughter, Shawn and her husband, Frank, and their four daughters, Kristen, Karin, Ingrid, and Elin.
During this time, Eve Nelson volunteered for NAMI, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill where she helped to establish Baybridge Facility, AN ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR WHICH SHE WAS PROUD. She was also very proud of having her family name, Fratontoni, inscribed on the monument at Ellis Island, where her parents first entered our country.
In their retirement Eve and Bill developed a wonderful group of friends through Dennis Golf and local bridge groups. One of Eve’s delightful assets was her ability to tell jokes and make people laugh. She had a gift for remembering names and reached out to everyone around her.
Life changed dramatically when Bill passed away in 2007. A year and a half later Eve moved to Thirwood Place in South Yarmouth where she continued to reach out to others, making them laugh; eventually being nicknamed “The Mayor”. After falling in 2014 she moved to Pleasant Bay Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation in Brewster, where the staff gave her loving support, for which we are incredibly thankful. Even at the age of 96, she remembered all of their names.
We will miss her, remembering her wealth of love and caring and her positive attitude when faced with challenges. A celebration of her life will be held in August when her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will all be on Cape Cod.