Nellie F. Kidd

View Funeral Webcast

Nellie F. Kidd, age 102, passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at the Rolling Hills Health Care Center in Belle Fourche.

The funeral service will be held 11am Thursday, January 21, 2021 at Leverington Funeral Home of the Northern Hills in Belle Fourche.  Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service.  Interment will take place in Pine Slope Cemetery.

The service will be live-streamed on the funeral home’s website, on Nellie’s obituary page located at: www.LeveringtonFH.com

Nellie Frances Krininger was born October 8, 1918 in Colony, Wyoming.  She was the daughter of Louis and Hanna (Niemann) Krininger.  Nellie grew up in Belle Fourche where she attended school.  Later she moved with her family to the west side of town and attended the Evans Middle Creek School.  She met her future husband James Kidd when he and his brother Roy stopped by the place she lived, to get a drink of water.  She wasn’t there, but her brother was and he told them to come back later and meet his sisters.  That was the beginning of the marriage for both brothers.  James said, “That one is mine and you can have the red haired one.”  A short time later, Nellie and James were married in Miles City Montana in 1936.  To this union, two daughters and two sons were born.  Following their marriage, they herded sheep in Harding and Butte Counties, living in a sheep wagon.  In 1940 they returned to Belle Fourche and Nellie began work for Nat Barret Furniture, making mattresses for many years.  She also pumped gas at a service station.  In 1941 they bought a one room house on 5 acres north of Belle Fourche, and later they put two additions on the house.  In 1960 they built a two-bedroom house with running water on the same 5-acre plot.  It was heated by wood and coal and a cistern with a pressure pump provided water where she lived until 2018.  At that time Nellie moved into Serenity Corners Assisting Living. 

Nellie worked in the old Tri State Café and Bob’s Café and the Lee Store.  In 1964 she began working for Cliff Thomas Drug as a sales clerk.  She worked there for 29 years, until the store was closed.  She loved working there and the people she worked with.  She also helped at the Senior Center where she received letters and a plaque for her volunteer work.  Nellie and Jim enjoyed traveling during their years together.  Nellie was a charter member of the Senior Citizens Half Century Club, a member of the Women of the Moose, Rebekah Lodge, Independent Order of the Odd Fellows; and a life member of the VFW Auxiliary.  She was also a long-time member of the First Congregational Church of Christ in Belle Fourche.  She enjoyed crafts like macramé and embroidery. She also loved old time country music.  She had a large record collection.  If you asked her who her favorite singer was, it was her son Lauren and also her daughter-in-law, Peggy and their sons, Murel and Bret.  Nellie also loved to take photographs and she has numerous albums, slides, and videos of the family and the many trips she enjoyed.  She traveled a lot with her brothers Frank and George and their wives.  Las Vegas and Mesquite seemed to be hot on the list of their travels, but she also loved playing slots at First Gold Casino in Deadwood.  She loved to play cards. Rummy, canasta and cribbage were probably her top three, with cribbage being number one.  She won several cribbage tournaments in the area.  Bingo was another favorite game.  Nellie had her own bingo box,  complete with its own stamps and playing cards.  When CB radio were popular, Nellies call name was “Bingo Babe”.

Nellie is survived by her son, Jay (Jane) of Belle Fourche; granddaughter, Michelle (Robert) Lewis of Bloomfield NM, grandsons, Murel (Tammy) of Maricopa AZ, Bret (Breanna) of Belle Fourche; great grandsons, Derrick Crane, JP Crane, Levi Kidd, Tyler Kidd, Lauren Kidd, Shanyia Kidd, Cody Kidd, and Thomas Kidd; and numerous great great grandchildren.   She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Jim on June 24, 1972; son, Lauren Lee; twin daughters, Jean and Jane; an infant grandson; brothers, Harry, Frank, George, and Earl Krininger; sisters, Annie and Lucille; and daughters-in-law, Peggy and JoAnn.

To send a flower arrangement or to plant trees in memory of Nellie F. Kidd, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.