Nelda Alene Hagen Campbell, age 86, passed away August 22, 2016, at Brookefield Park in St. Paul, Nebraska. Funeral Services will be 10:30 A.M. Thursday, August 25, 2016, at First United Methodist Church in Brookings with burial to follow in Greenwood Cemetery. Visitations will be 5-7 P.M. Wednesday at Eidsness Funeral Home. Nelda, a longtime resident of Brookings, had lived the last few years in Lincoln and in Grand Island, Nebraska. Her last two years had been shaded with illness which she bore graciously as she had always lived.

Nelda was the fourth of five daughters born August 14, 1930, to Henry and Lorna Mae Hagen. Henry farmed in rural Nebraska, later moving his family to Central City where Nelda graduated from high school. Following graduation, she fell in love with Jerome Campbell who had been helped in his courtship endeavors by his ownership of a yellow convertible. They married in 1950; the couple lived in Central City while Jerome finished work on his undergraduate degree. They moved to Grand Island when Jerome became employed there. Jerome wanted to teach and secured his first teaching job in St. Paul a few years later, earned his graduate degree at UNL-Lincoln and subsequently taught in Belgrade and Genoa before joining the English faculty at SDSU in the 60s. During the high school years, Nelda sewed cheerleader and majorette outfits, kept score at games and meets and chaperoned speech events and dances with Jerome. She was popular with the high school girls who came over to chat frequently.

Nelda worked with the Veterinary Science Lab on campus beginning in 1971, and then she was recruited to work for the Dean of Agriculture as a secretary. She refined her position to Administrative Assistant. There was no one who loved the university more and worked for its success.

Nelda was an enthusiastic supporter of SDSU athletics and cultural events. Her calendars were filled with dates of basketball and football games, concerts and plays. She loved being part of the university community. She was also active in her church, singing in choir, serving with Methodist organizations and taking apostleship classes. She read with elementary students and played bridge. She worked with the hospital auxiliary and was active in PEO and Altrusa. She enjoyed traveling and was able to see much of this world; she was rather in awe of these opportunities to be a globe-trotter.

Her grandchildren remember her rising early and getting dressed up to go to work—this especially impressed her granddaughter. One grandson remembers her talking about how much she enjoyed reading with her young students, and another took her out for coffee every day when he visited Lincoln, to her great delight.

To Hunter and Jeri, she was an outstanding mother, generous and loving. She sewed dresses and typed papers late into the night. She cheered us on in every undertaking and comforted us in every sickness and sadness.

Jerome passed away in 1979. She married Hilton Briggs in 1997 who died in 2001. Nelda was also preceded in death by her parents, her two sisters, Leona and Viola, and an infant son. She leaves behind her children, Jeri of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Hunter of Grand Island, Nebraska; five grandchildren: Sarah, Benjamin, Jared, and Samuel and Jerome; five great-grandchildren; sisters, Vera Mae and Doris; and nieces and nephews . Memorials may be directed to the Alzheimer's Association.