Alice E. Heller

Alice E. (Nelson) Heller of Biglerville, passed away on Monday, December 12, 2016 at Wellspan Gettysburg Hospital. Born Saturday, March 24, 1923 in West Somerville, MA she was the daughter of the late Henry and Selma A. (Berg) Nelson. She is survived by her husband of 69 years, Clyde H. Heller. Alice graduated from Somerville H.S. in 1941. In 1944 she graduated from the Cambridge Hospital School of Nursing. A veteran of WWII, she served in The Army Nurse Corps in the U.S. with the Troop Trains out of Camp Edwards, MA. An overseas assignment took her to the Philippines and The Army of Occupation in Kyoto, Japan. Following the war, she worked in obstetrics for three years at the Annie M. Warner Hospital in Gettysburg followed by ten years of private duty nursing. She returned to school and graduated from Shippensburg University with a B.S. in School Nursing and worked as a high school nurse at the Upper Adams School District for four years. She then earned an MEd in Guidance and Counseling and retired as a high school counselor after 18 years in the district. A longtime member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, she served as president of the former Volunteer class for over 20 years, and served on the Social Ministry and Fellowship Committee. She enjoyed sewing quilts for Lutheran World Relief, crocheting afghans for her children and grandchildren, camping, fishing and traveling. Alice was a life member of the Adams County and PA Association of School Retirees, serving on the Scholarship Committee for ten years; life member of the Biglerville Historical and Preservation Society where she was a volunteer at the Apple Museum; life member of Oakside Community Park; a member of American Legion Auxiliary Post 262; member of the Adams County Retired Nurses Association and Retired School Nurses Association. In addition to her husband Clyde, she is survived by two sons, Steven N. Heller and wife Joan of Calistoga, CA, and Daniel H. Heller and wife Andrea of Ashton, MD and a daughter, Christine E. Frese and husband Ray of Plano, TX; seven grandchildren: Alyson and husband Scott Nelson of Chicago; Brandon Heller of Menlo Park, CA; Lindsay and husband Jeff Griswold of Asheville, NC; Jacqueline Heller of San Francisco; Lauren Giovannitti of New York City; Ashley Giovannitti of Austin, TX, and Tara and husband Josh Koester of Belair, MD; and two great-granddaughters Eleanor Nelson and Riley Koester. She was preceded in death by two sisters; Ruth Ljungberg of Holden, MA and Anna Belanger, Shrewsbury, MA, and one brother Henry Nelson, Bellingham, MA. Professional services are entrusted to Dugan Funeral Home, Inc., 111 South Main Street, Bendersville. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM Thursday, December 15 at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Biglerville with a visitation beginning at 10:00 AM.Interment will be in Biglerville Cemetery. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to St. Paul Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 325, Biglerville, PA 17307 or the Adams County Library System, 140 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325.