Nelly Petra Kristine (Nerhus) Cabbage
1/5/1938 – 12/26/2023
Nelly Cabbage passed away peacefully in her sleep at home on December 26, 2023 in Meridian, Idaho at the age of 85. She has reunited with her beloved husband, John, her parents and sister in heaven.
Nelly was born in Glendive, MT before her family moved to Billings, MT. She attended the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind with her older deaf sister, Ingeborg. Her parents were Norwegian immigrants. Her dad was a crew foreman for the Union Pacific railroad and she spent the summers of her young years living in a box car assigned exclusively to her dad and his family because he was the foreman.
After graduating from high school, she went to Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. She was involved in several intramural sports and was initiated into the Phi Kappa Zeta sorority. She graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics. After graduation, she taught at the Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe, KS for 4 years. While attending the Montana Association of the Deaf annual convention, Nelly met the love of her life, John Alexander Cabbage from Gooding, Idaho. After corresponding by mail for a year, they later married on June 22, 1963 in Billings, MT. The couple then decided to settle in Gooding.
She taught Home Economics, Math, Social Studies and English at the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind for 33 years before retiring. During the course of her career at Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind, she obtained her Master’s degree in Deaf Education from Idaho State University. She was also involved in the Idaho Athletic Club of the Deaf (IACD). She was an avid fan of her husband, sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s sporting events. She loved gardening, sewing, crocheting, cooking and art.
Nelly was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and held various positions in the deaf branch as well as being involved with the deaf Cub Scouts.
She is survived by her brother, Harold Nerhus of Yorba Linda, CA and two sons, Sonny (Michelle) of Meridian, Idaho and Roddy (Emma Lozada) of Santa Fe, New Mexico; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Nelly is preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, John, her parents, Hector and Johanna Nerhus, her sister, Ingeborg Kanning and nephew, Kent Kanning.
A Celebration of Life is planned in the near future. In lieu of flowers, please send donations payable to the Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind (IESDB) Foundation for Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind (ISDB) in memory of Nelly Cabbage at P.O. Box 181 Gooding, Idaho 83330-0181.
The family would like to thank the St. Luke’s Hospice care staff (Noemi, Rhea and Shannon) for their care and dedication to Nelly.