Always an Indian, never a chief

The community of Nevada has lost a strong supporter. When Nelle Hillier became ill recently and died last week everyone kept commenting on how badly she would be missed. In her neighborhood, her church, around Nevada, in her home community of Avola, in PEO, Meals on Wheels, at the Bushwhacker Museum, Habitat for Humanity and on and on, the constant refrain was, "We could always depend on her to help." This sense of loss might be hard for an outsider to understand because Nelle never took positions of leadership. Her brilliant mind contributed to any discussion or meeting that she was involved in, but you never saw her presiding at any of these meetings.

In Sunday school classes, church studies, and community affairs, her voice was often quiet. When she did speak, everyone listened because she could often get to the root of the discussion that the rest of us had just been babbling about.

She took important roles, often those that others did not like to undertake. These were such things as being treasurer or bookkeeper for large or small organizations. She preferred to fill positions that operated mainly in the background.

Operating the dishwasher at the United Methodist Church often became her responsibility because she enjoyed serving this way. For years she took over the formidable task of the annual United Methodist Women's soup luncheon in November. She had it so well organized that this year, even in her absence, it continued to work perfectly.

For years I enjoyed sitting a few pews behind Nelle and her sisters in the church. The family resemblance and concern showed in every move. Nelle was the youngest of the three sisters. When her oldest sister, Mary, was no longer able to come, then Ruth and Nelle continued to sit together. Other family members would often join them. Nelle was particularly proud when her two Nevada grandchildren shared their musical talents with the church. The other granddaughter lived at Rolla, but Nelle tried to attend as many functions there as possible and braved the drive alone to share with Doris' family also.

Her family was a source of pride and joy, but she was also interested in the families of her friends. Helpful gestures to older friends, or those with little children were very common. Whenever a need arose, Nelle would be one of the first to volunteer. "I'll make a pie for the meal" and similar statements were often heard.

She did not like to do things the easy way. She preferred using the china plates (which of course meant also using the dishwasher) to substituting paper or styrofoam dishes. She did not mind washing the tablecloths so that the meals would look more festive.

Nelle liked to keep up on things and read books and the newspapers so that she could be informed. She didn't like to take leadership but she could ask such intelligent questions that it sometimes shaped the tone of the discussions.

As we were driving to her burial beside her husband, O.B., at the Green Mound Cemetery near Harwood, Don Russell, who had been Nelle's boss for several years, was telling us how much he had depended on her work. Then he added, "Nelle was always the Indian and never the Chief."