Obituary of Maryann Lee Nelson

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Maryann Lee Nelson passed away January 12, 2023.  To say her family and many friends will miss her greatly is a drastic understatement.

Maryann was born January 29, 1967 to Berton Eugene Lee and Jeanette Bell Brewer Lee in Livermore, California.  She was the caboose of the Lee family, with four older brothers and three older sisters.  As a teenager, she enjoyed ballet dancing, drama, and singing in multiple choirs.  She participated several times in the Oakland Temple Pageant and the annual holiday production at the temple of Handel’s Messiah.  She graduated from Granada High School with perfect attendance for all four years of Seminary. 

Maryann attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, where she studied medical technology.  She was inspired to pursue a career as a hospital lab technician by her experience as a teenage hospital volunteer and the work of her sister-in-law Bette Jo Lee.  Maryann took time from her studies to serve an 18-month mission in Rome, Italy for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  She felt she had been made for missionary work.  She loved talking with people, explaining things, scheduling her day so she was super efficient, and using maps to find her way around a strange city — and she thrived having a companion with her 24/7.

In her final year at BYU, she met Dean Shannon Nelson.  Dean knew Maryann was the girl for him soon after they met, but she took a little convincing.  After a few months, she overcame her lifelong reluctance to make big decisions and wholeheartedly confirmed Dean was the love of her life.  Maryann and Dean were married August 17, 1991 in the Oakland California temple.  They spent a few years in Provo finishing up their degrees, during which time they were blessed with their first child, Curtis Dean.  They moved to Layton, Utah in 1993, where they had their second son, Kendall Lee.

In 1996, Maryann and Dean moved their family to Meridian, Idaho where her brother Scott and his wife Cindy as well as Dean’s father Phillip Dean Nelson and his wife Janet lived.  They were joined a few years later by her parents and completed their family with the births of Aidan Phillip and Elyse Charlotte.  While Maryann always worked one or two shifts at the hospital each week, she was a dedicated and enthusiastic mother.  She unconditionally and unselfishly loved her children, celebrating their many successes and championing them through difficulties in their lives.  Nothing brought Maryann more joy than creating memories with her family, often at a Disney theme park.  She was very grateful to know most of her children have found excellent partners, who she loved deeply.

Maryann had an unwavering faith in God and in her Savior Jesus Christ.  She served actively in a variety of church assignments, working with the Boy Scouts and other youth groups.  Maryann loved people, and people loved Maryann.  She was never happier than when she was making new friends.  She was always thinking of and serving others, making cupcakes for everyone’s birthday and growing flowers in her backyard not for her own enjoyment but specifically to cut and share with others.  Maryann had an easy smile for everyone and loved to laugh.  She was not afraid to be silly, whether singing to herself as she cooked or dancing in her car.

Maryann is survived by her loving husband as well as her children and their spouses:  Curtis and Shelby (Cusworth), Kendall and Ashley (Briones), Aidan, and Elyse (who will marry Kayden Kouznetsov later this year), as well as her sweet dog, Zoe.  Maryann also leaves two grandchildren, Luka Briones Nelson and Halle Jean Nelson, and all seven of her siblings and their spouses:  Ronald and Toshiko Lee, Gloria and Ralph Cole, Russel and Bette Jo Lee, Lynda and Rick Smith, Steven and Helen Lee, Scott and Cindy Lee, and Marla and David Monson.  She was predeceased by her parents, Berton Eugene Lee and Jeanette Bell Brewer Lee, and parents-in-law, Phillip Dean Nelson and Inga B Johnson.

Funeral services will be held at 11am Saturday, January 21 at 1950 South Locust Grove Road, Meridian, Idaho, with a viewing from 10am.  A burial service for family and very close friends will take place at 11am Monday, January 23 at Dry Creek Cemetery.