Eliza Leone Cordon Nielsen passed away at home on 24 July 2004 in the company of her family. She was born in Willard, Box Elder, Utah to Joseph Moroni Cordon and Sylvia Maria Wood on 15 October 1923. Leone lived in Willard until she was about 10 years old when the family moved to Idaho. They lived in Idaho Falls and later Rigby. Her parents made the "Little Jack Horner pies and Leone remembers coming home from school and washing pie tins while her brother Edwin rolled out the pie dough. Leone graduated from Rigby High School in 1941. She attended one year at Ricks College and later a semester at Boise State University. She married her sweetheart, Andrew Dale Nielsen, on 18 February 1946. The couple eloped to Dillon, Beaverhead, Montana with their good friends Coral Baird and Rex Nelson. It was a double wedding. They were married for 58 years. Leone raised her children in Idaho, moving from Idaho Falls to Boise, then to Pocatello and back to Boise (Eagle). The family also lived in Alexandria, Virginia (Ft. Belvoir) and Tacoma, Washington (Ft. Lewis) at various times as Andy pursued a military career. She was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She held many callings in Relief Society, Primary, and was an ordinance worker in the Jordan River Temple and later in the Salt Lake Temple. She was compassionate, always helping others. Leone and Andrew served in the Arizona Phoenix Mission between January 2000 and June 2001. They lived on the Navajo Indian Reservation and worked with the Native Americans. They made many life long friends with whom they are still in contact. They loved the people. She is preceded in death by her parents, a brother Edwin Wood Cordon, sisters Carma Lowe, LaVon Baddley, and her daughter Teresa Ann Nielsen. She is survived by her husband, son Eric Dale Nielsen (Marva), daughters Lynne Nielsen, Kimberly Mitchell (Jonas), granddaughter Annaka Nielsen, and step-grandchildren Jason Kinnersley (Angela), Christopher Kinnersley (Erica) and Heidi Chee (Wakely).
Published in the Salt Lake Tribune from 7/27/2004 - 7/28/2004.