The funeral service for Nadine Lorraine Spellman of Albert Lea will be held on Monday at 11 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Albert Lea. The Rev. Dwight Netzer will officiate. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the Bonnerup Funeral Service, and one hour prior to the service at the church. Prior interment will be in Graceland Cemetery at 10 a.m.

The family asks that any memorials be directed to the Albert Lea Audubon Society or the First Presbyterian Church of Albert Lea.

Nadine Spellman died on March 13, 2008 in the very capable hands of the personnel at the Albert Lea Medical Center and in the company of her friends and family. She was active at the First Presbyterian church where she was baptized, confirmed and married until the recent onset of her illness. Other active memberships included the Albert Lea Audubon Society, Elks Club and the Nature Conservatory.

Nadine was born at the old Naeve Hospital on October 3, 1927, the daughter of Alfred A. and Bernadine L. (Holway) Fligge.

While growing up in Albert Lea, Nadine, at an early age, developed a special love and appreciation for birds, plants, flowers and trees and types and varieties of which she was able to identify with uncanny accuracy wherever she traveled. That interest came from summers spent at the Holway-Emerson summer lodge at Arrowhead Point on Freeborn Lake.

Nadine also continued to travel to observe her friends the birds, including trips to the Cree Meadows in Grantsburg, Wis. and the Platte River Delta in Nebraska to see the migration of the sand bill cranes, to Hawks Ridge in Duluth to see the hawk migration, and to Riecks Lake in Trempealeau, Wis., to see the eastward full migration of the Tundra Swans. She most enjoyed spending time in her beautiful garden planting and watching the birds that would flock to the many bird feeders.

Nadine graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1945 and attended Macalester College. She then returned to Albert Lea and worked at the First National Bank. She met her future husband Tom Spellman at the Fountain Street Grocery and was married on October 4, 1951 at the First Presbyterian Church.

Her other work experience included Trades Publishing, Haver-Lockhart Pharmaceuticals and a stellar career at Leland-Dress realtors.

Possessing a genuine sense of history, Nadine and husband Tom traveled throughout both the American colonial and civil war areas. Other travel jaunts included the Midwest and especially fond memories of trips to Duluth and the Minnesota North shore. She continued her gardening skills and maintained her avid reading in later years.

Nadine is survived by her son Kent Spellman of St. Paul, brother Keith (Deloris) Fligge of Albert Lea, nephews Steven (Shari) Fligge of Albert Lea, Mark (Lori) Fligge of St. Paul, David (Anne) Fligge of Deephaven, cousins, Muriel (Holway) Weyrum of Conger and Richard (Elaine) Petersen of Clarkfield.

She was preceded in death by her husband Thomas T. Spellman, her son Ward Joseph Spellman and an infant son.