Karen Sue (Spruill) Nelson

Karen Sue (Spruill) Nelson of Albuquerque passed away December 6, 2022.

"Kay" grew up in Plymouth, North Carolina, as an only child with an abundance of cousins. Once, upon hearing that a library had burned down, she cried over the loss of "all those beautiful books." When Karen was selected to attend the North Carolina Governor's School, she was initially afraid to leave home. The experience turned out to be a defining moment of her life, setting her heart on going away to college, being the first in her family to do so. After attending East Carolina University and becoming a home economics teacher, Karen took pride in including people with disabilities both in the curriculum as well as the school community.

Karen reluctantly left the "forever" home she and her husband Gary had built in Cookeville, Tennessee, to move to New Mexico in 1983. Though she always missed being near water, homesickness soon gave way to an appreciation of her new home's mild climate, open and casual atmosphere, and different cultures. Karen loved attending performances of all kinds, especially musical theater, and was an avid collector of Southwestern art. Everywhere she went, she was on the lookout for treasure, able to spot an interesting rock or shell from several yards away.

After many years of supporting Gary's various business ventures and raising their children, Karen returned to education, first at La Cueva High School and then Jefferson Middle School, where she became a teaching assistant and eventually a certified teacher of the blind and visually impaired. She took great pleasure in learning creative and unusual ways to help her students succeed and, with her lifelong love of books, in helping them find just the right book to read.

Because it always tickled her to read this in obituaries, it has to be mentioned that she died with all her own teeth. The family wishes to thank all who helped care for her in her last months.

Karen was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Estelle (Sawyer) Spruill of Plymouth, North Carolina; and recently by her husband of 53 years, Gary Nelson. She is survived by her children, Kevin and Terri; son-in-law John; and grandchildren Isabel, Madeline, and Gary; all of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, January 14, 2023, 11:00 at FRENCH - Wyoming. Interment will be at Willow Mount Cemetery in Shelbyville, Tennessee, at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to The National Federation of the Blind (https://nfb.org/contribute/give).