Dorothea Detwiler Beegle Nelson
December 4, 1925 – July 22, 2023

Dorothea Detwiler Beegle Nelson, 97, local philanthropist and admirer of the arts, passed peacefully away Saturday morning at Garvey Manor.
She was born in the small town of New Enterprise, Penna, daughter of the late Paul I. and C. Elisabeth Detwiler.
She graduated from Replogle High School in 1943, going on to college and graduating from Bucknell University in 1947. That same year, she married Emmert B. Beegle and began working as a secretary for the head of the highway administration. She remained employed for five years. She was quite proud of her proficiency in shorthand!
Emmert and Dorothea had three daughters: Pamela Ann Richardson (Charles) of Charlottsville, VA, Gaye Elisabeth Schamburg of Annapolis, MD, and Lisa Jo Beegle who lived in Hollidaysburg and died in 2020. She is also survived by five grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.
Emmert died in the fall of 1980 and five years later she married E. Dean Nelson, who also preceded her in death in 2012.
Throughout her life, she was a devoted mother to her children and a loving daughter to her parents. Dorothea loved her home and enjoyed entertaining friends and family. She was an avid reader of biographies, literature, and historical fiction. She kept abreast of both local and national current events, debating and conversing topics with her family. Playing bridge with her friends brought her joy as well as traveling, dining out, and her daily 5:00 martini!
Dorothea was a lifelong member of Zion Lutheran Church. She was active in the Hollidaysburg Library, YMCA, the Altoona Symphony, and the Southern Allegheny Museum of Art. She was thrilled to be a Wise Women of Blair County and also to be a proud founding member of the Blairmont Club.
Dorothea was known for her sweet disposition and her kindness and thoughtfulness toward others. Her life was long and well lived and she leaves behind a treasury of fond and funny memories.
A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, July 31, 2023, at Zion Lutheran Church, Hollidaysburg, with Rev. David Bowman officiating.
Interment will be private at the convenience of the family.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in memory of Dorothea be made to the Hollidaysburg YMCA, 1111 Hewit St., Hollidaysburg, PA, 16648 or the Zion Lutheran Church, 500 Allegheny St, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648.
Arrangements are by Plank, Stitt & Stevens Funeral Home, 421 Montgomery St., Hollidaysburg.
Condolences may be made at www.stevensfamilyfuneralhomes.com or Stevens Family Funeral Homes Facebook page.