Victoria Reno Nelson

Victoria Reno was born in Idaho Falls, into the pioneer Reno family of Eastern Idaho and she remained true to her pioneer roots. Her family's legacy of homesteading, ranching, ownership of Reno Park, now Tautphaus Park, and her grandfather's founding of the War Bonnet Round Up Rodeo in 1911, gave her great pride. Family history was her passion. As "the last Reno" of her generation, and upon her death on August 1, 2026, at the age of 91, she now joins her ancestors in Rose Hill Cemetery.

Victoria was born to Torrey Alban Reno and Mabel Davis Reno, on June 11, 1935, at the LDS Hospital in Idaho Falls. She often reminisced about her childhood visits to Reno Park where she would ride the miniature train, play in the wading pond and visit the monkey house. Her lifelong love of the piano began at age three, with the sisters at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, who had to lift her up onto the piano bench. Though her dream of becoming a concert pianist would never be a reality, she used her skills to accompany singers and choirs. We all knew mom was letting off steam when we heard the first chords of the Warsaw Concerto coming from the grand piano.

Just prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, her parents moved the family to Southern California for better work opportunities and warmer weather. Victoria grew up in Lomita, California, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and attended Narbonne High School where she made many friends and excelled at academics, piano and dance.

Upon graduation, Victoria enrolled in nurses training where she met her future husband, Theodore "Ted" Parker Nelson, in a biochemistry lab at Fullerton Junior College. They married in 1953, and became parents to three children within five years. Ted was a North Dakota farm boy and Victoria envisioned her life on a farm after he received his bachelor's degree in agricultural business management from Cal Poly Pomona, but that did not come to pass.

As a registered nurse, Victoria dedicated most of her life to the care of her patients in hospital settings as well as private duty. Along the way, she would go back to school and receive a bachelor's degree in sociology from Chapman College, a master's degree in vocational education from Long Beach State University, and teaching credentials for community college in nursing education.

In December, 1960, ever the adventurers, Victoria and Ted loaded up the station wagon with their three children, ages six, four and one, and drove the 3000 miles from Southern California to Fairbanks, Alaska, on the unpaved Al-Can Highway. Over the ensuing six years, the family became immersed in Alaskan life while Ted attended the University of Alaska for his teaching credential and Victoria used her nursing degree to work at the hospital and for a period of time, at the Institute of Arctic Biology.

They bid a fond farewell to Alaska, returning to Southern California in 1966, only to embark on their European adventure in 1970. Armed with the travel guide Europe on $5/Day, the family spent ten weeks in a VW van, driving 10,000 miles, mostly camping out, and touring nineteen countries. Of course, this was all "Victoria's idea". She dreamed big and remained undaunted by finances or schedules.

Over the years, Victoria owned fifteen properties, the most special being Freedom Ranch in White Bird, Idaho. Her life was driven by an intense curiosity and desire to learn - about nature and other cultures. She would take a side road to pick wildflowers, to stop at an adobe hut on the Navajo Reservation or to knock on the door of a turkey farm - all in the interest of learning about our world.

Ted and Victoria were married for 30 years, but divorced in 1984. Nevertheless they remained friends and she was by Ted's side when he passed away in 2020. She was also preceded in death by her seven half siblings, Lorraine, Jay and Wanda Reno Aveldson and Afton, Katheryn, Lucille and John Davis.

She is survived by her three children, Diane Nelson Spickert (Charlie), Laura Nelson Kasperowicz (Mark) and Wayde Nelson; her pride and joy, her seven grandchildren, Cameron Spickert (Roxanne), Andrew Spickert (Maggie), Jase Kasperowicz, Neil Kasperowicz, Dylan Kasperowicz, Brandon Nelson Oscarson (Sheila) and Heather Nelson; and four great grandchildren, Orion and Islay Spickert-Ammons, Simon Fequiere-Spickert and Cillian Oscarson.

Victoria used to say "I can't die yet - I have too much to get done." You can rest now, Mom, and we'll take it from here.

Please join us for a Celebration of Life Reception from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at Wood Funeral Home, 273 N. Ridge Avenue.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Victoria Reno Nelson to the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls at this link: https://museumofidaho.org/donate/ or donations can be mailed to Museum of Idaho, 200 N Eastern Avenue, Idaho Falls, ID 83402.