Nellie Pfiester


Nellie Lee Pfiester, friend to many and life of the party, died February 25, 2022. Nellie, 70 of Bellevue, MI, was born December 31, 1951, in Shelby, MI to Manuel and Mary (Chase) Hovey. Nellie graduated from Shelby High School and attended Muskegon Business College. In September of 1975 she married her sweetheart, Jon Pfiester, and they created an amazing life together. They lived several places over their early married life, but 40 years ago settled in Bellevue, MI.
Work hard and play hard would be a great motto for Nellie, as she worked 33 years at Hayes Green Beach Hospital, and also worked with her husband on the farm. A very social person, Nellie loved people and loved a good party. She enjoyed playing Bunko, shopping, everything MSU, and cooking (and she was a very good cook specializing in pancakes, baked beans and peanut butter cake).
The true joy in Nellie’s life was watching the sporting events that her sons and her grandchildren participated in. It started with her sons playing football, basketball, dirt bike racing, and a season of wrestling, then her grandson’s football, basketball and baseball games, and her granddaughter’s basketball and softball games. Nellie and Jon made it a priority to attend all the sporting events for their sons and travelled often so they could see most of their grandchildren’s events too. She was a very proud mom and grandma, loving to share stories of all their sporting prowess.
Nellie is survived by her husband of 46 years, Jon; sons, Michael (Alaina) and Jason (Laurie); grandchildren, Trevor, Emma, and Ellie; siblings, Dale (Linda) Hovey, Joyce (Ron) Ross, Manuel (Meltha) Hovey; brothers-in-law, Richard Pfiester and Tim (Lynn) Pfiester; and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, and sister-in-law, Kay Dexter.
Friends are encouraged to support Nellie’s family by attending services or sharing memories on her Tribute Page at www.prayfuneral.com. Funeral services were Thursday, March 3 at Bellevue United Methodist Church with Rev. Mikki Sandlin officiating. If desired, the family suggests memorial contributions to Bellevue Memorial Scholarship Foundation. The family is in the care of Pray Funeral Home, Charlotte.