Eileen Nelson Gandy

Eileen Nelson Gandy, 92, of Huntington Beach, joined the church triumpant on October 21, 2021 after living a long and fruitful life.
Ms. Gandy was born in Gardner, Massachusetts, to Arthur and Xenia Nelson on July 17, 1929.  She was the first of three children of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. She went to high school at Gardner High School and graduated in 1947. 
She worked at a variety of jobs as an administrative assistance in New York City, Texas and Florida.  Among her most notable employment was at the Florida State University School of Library Science and at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 
Eileen was comfortable in all surroundings, but especially enjoyed the beauties of nature and spent a lot of time on the water. She grew up on the lakes of Massachusetts and spent time at Cupsaw and Erskine Lakes in New Jersey where she lived, the Gulf of Mexico in Florida and the Pacific Ocean in Huntington Beach. After retiring from her professional career, she spent a summer working at Yellowstone National Park.
She was an avid follower of Florida State Seminoles Football and was a season ticket holder while working at Florida State during the Coach Bobby Bowden era. She traveled to many post-season bowl games and proudly claimed was the same age as Coach Bowden. She was a well-informed baseball fan and attended Brooklyn Dodgers games at Ebbetts Field while living in New York City, and working at Standard Oil, in the 1950s. She was a regular fixture at Florida State baseball games and attended quite a few Los Angeles Angels games after she moved to Huntington Beach.
She was actively involved in the efforts of Lutheran churches where she lived during her life, most recently, she volunteered in the church office at Grace Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach and loved helping decorate floats for the annual Rose Parade with the Petal Pushers. 
Eileen is survived by her sister, Carol Mercer, of The Villages, Florida and brother John Nelson, of Burlington, Vermont.  She was the proud mother of two children, her son, Nick Gandy, of Tallahassee, Florida, and daughter, Wanda Gainous, of Huntington Beach. She was a grandmother to Alyson Gainous of Santa Ana, Katie Gainous, of Long Beach, Grant Gandy, currently serving in the U.S. Army, in Vilsec Germany and Gregory Gandy, of Tallahassee Florida.  She is preceded in death by his/her father Arthur Nelson and mother Xenia Nelson.
Eileen’s warm personality was enjoyed by many friends and loved ones in her life and will be missed by all of them. She was not the most vocal in social settings but enjoyed but enjoyed the company of others and was always ready when an occasion to socialize became available.
Memorial donations may be made to Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer's Association | Donate to Fight Alzheimer's Disease.  The family wishes to extend their gratitude to Angelic Dwelling Care Home, Essence Hospice and Pastor Jan Stolzenburg & Grace Lutheran Church.

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