Obituary of Nellie Virginia Andresen

Nellie Virginia Andresen, 93, of Farmingdale passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 26, 2023 at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune.  Virginia, as she liked to be called, was born in Chicago, IL, the youngest of three children.  She graduated from Steinmetz High School in 1948 and immediately began working to afford her dreams of travel to Europe.  During this time, Virginia attended classes with IBM and became one of the first women programmers.

In 1958, she took a trip to see the Panama Canal on a Norwegian freighter and met the love of her life, Arne Andresen.  They were married in Baltimore four months later in February 1959.

They eventually settled in Toms River in 1962, where she was a stay-at-home mom to her two children, Christine and Paul.  In the mid-1970s, after years of being an advocate for shelters, Virginia took on the role of her lifetime as a wildlife rehabilitator.  She raised and rehabilitated orphaned and injured wildlife of all kinds, especially falling in love with raccoons, for the next 40 years.  In 2011, Virginia and her husband moved to Howell with their daughter, Christine and son-in-law, Jim and spent a few years traveling once again.  After the loss of Arnie in 2016, she became more active with the Howell Senior Center where she enjoyed many hours of friendship.

Virginia is predeceased by her husband, Arne; grandson, Timothy Adametz; and two brothers, Harry Becker and Jess Becker.  She is survived by her daughter, Christine Adametz and her husband, Jim of Farmingdale; a son, Paul Andresen and his wife, Marlene of Florida; four grandchildren, Jessica Adametz and her husband, Richard Cavanaugh, Sarah Adametz and her fiancé, Frank DiGironimo, Kimberly Jeschke and her husband, Chris and Steven Andresen.

A visitation will be held at the Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home, 100 Elton-Adelphia Road (Route 524), Freehold Township on Saturday, January 6, 2024 from 9:00 AM until her 10:00 AM Funeral Service at the funeral home.  Entombment will follow in Whiting Memorial Park & Mausoleum, 600 County Road 530, Whiting, NJ 08759.  For those who desire, memorial contributions may be made to the Associated Humane Societies, Community Shelters, HERE.  For information, directions or condolence messages to the family, visit www.claytonfuneralhome.com.