Ida Kate Nelson

Ida Kate Mitchell Nelson, age 91, of Southaven, Mississippi, and formerly of Adams, Tennessee, passed away on May 9, 2026, at Shepherd Hospice House in Southaven, Mississippi. Funeral Services are as follows: Visitation will be held Friday, May 15, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., at Austin and Bell Funeral Home in Springfield, Tennessee. Funeral services will be held immediately following visitation in the funeral home chapel. Interment will follow services where Mrs. Nelson will be laid to rest by her husband, Joe Nelson, at the Adams Cemetery in Adams, Tennessee. Officiating will be her son-in-law, Terry Collins. Songs will be led by her son-in-law, Dennis Yarbrough and her grandson, Jonathan Collins. Her daughter, Jackie Ackerman, will speak on behalf of the family. Pallbearers are Jonathan Collins, William “BJ” Ackerman, Brian Burton, Nichy Bell, Andrew Bell, and Eli Bell. Mrs. Nelson was born on November 24, 1934, in Adams, Tennessee, to the late John A. Mitchell and Mary Mollie Adkins Mitchell. Her youth was spent in Adams, Tennessee, on a farm managed by her father. Mrs. Nelson attended Bell School in Adams, Tennessee, and Jo Byrns High School in Cedar Hill, Tennessee. She played basketball for the Red Devils. She fell in love with a young sailor from Greenbrier, Tennessee. They married on May 14, 1952. While her young sailor was deployed to the Battleship Wisconsin, during the Korean War, Mrs. Nelson lived with her parents. Since Mr. Nelson was a 20-year career sailor, they lived at several different duty stations on the eastern seaboard from Rhode Island to Key West, Florida. She greatly enjoyed her life as a proud Navy wife and serving God in the Church of Christ all the days of her life. Upon her husband’s retirement, they operated an insurance, real estate and tax business in Southaven, Mississippi. Mrs. Nelson is survived by three daughters: Mary Jo (Dennis) Yarbrough of Horn Lake, Mississippi; Janice (Terry) Collins of Dothan, Alabama; Jackie (Ricky) Ackerman of Olive Branch, Mississippi; a brother, Ricky Lee Mitchell of Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee; seven grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, two step great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her brothers, John Mitchell, Jr. and Tommy Mitchell. In lieu of flowers, family requests kind donations be sent to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or by visiting www.stjude.org Austin & Bell Funeral Home in Springfield is in charge of these arrangements. AUSTIN & BELL FUNERAL HOME- 509 WALNUT STREET, SPRINGFIELD, TN (615) 384-1000

Ida Kate Nelson

November 24, 1934 - May 9, 2026