Jean Ann Murphy was born on 9-24-60 to the parents of Cyril Francis and Shirley Mae Weis (Murphy) in Marshfield, Wisconsin. Jean is the second of five daughters to Cyril and Shirley born from 1959 to 1965. All Jean's early childhood and high school years were lived in Wisconsin. Jean graduated in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, in 1979. Interests in Wisconsin developed were her love for God, family and then as the great Vince Lombardi would list, the Green Bay Packers. The Murphy family moved to Minnesota in 1979. Jean from there moved to Fosston, Minnesota, to work at the city's municipal nursing home in 1982. She met her future husband, Rod Nielsen, there and they were married in June 1982 in Bemidji, Minnesota. While living in Fosston, two daughters were born. As family needs grew, so did education as Jean received a bachelor of science degree in elementary education with additional licensures in the pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and early childhood special education areas at Bemidji State University. Jean moved her family to Fairmont, Minnesota, to establish a career in teaching with the Martin County Special Education Coop. Because of change in education, this moved the family to New Ulm, Minnesota, in 1995. Jean became the director of the New Ulm Area Catholic Schools EduCare preschool and daycare serving eighty families at the time. More change was to come with work and the consolidation of the program into a new elementary building led Jean to a new career working with group homes in the New Ulm area. Staying in New Ulm was a blessing in disguise for Jean and her family. The family learned the true values of the community because the longer the family lived in New Ulm, the more apparent of living the city's values became because these values became her own. Over time, as Louise married, she and her husband, Bruce, now have two children. They are in New Ulm too and understanding more and more the importance of living in a smaller community.
