She was born on January 29, 1937, on the family farm at Indian Gap in Hamilton County to parents Bruno Goerdel and Alwine Nauert Goerdel. Nelda attended grade school at Indian Gap and graduated from Pottsville High School as salutatorian in 1954.

On Feb. 26, 1955, Nelda was joined in Holy matrimony to her childhood sweetheart, Kenneth Wayne Krueger, at Zion Lutheran Church in Priddy. They made their home in Dallas until October 1956, when they moved to Grand Prairie to raise their family. In 1989, they retired and built a beautiful home in the country outside Athens. They lived there until March 2000. They were in the process of moving to Thorndale when Kenneth suddenly passed away on March 31, 2000. Nelda then lived with her son, Allan Krueger, in Elgin. At the time of her death, she resided with her daughter and son-in-law, Melinda and Craig Miller, in Elgin.

Nelda was preceded in death by her husband of 45 years, Kenneth Wayne Krueger; her son, Steven Wayne Krueger and his wife, Therese Ann Kettelhut Krueger; her daughter, Karen Lynn Krueger Lawler; her parents, Bruno and Alwine Nauert Goerdel; her sister, Margaret Lucille Goerdel Giles; her father- and mother-in-law, Carl and Ida Witte Krueger; her sisters-in-law, Carolyn Krueger Montgomery and Becky Krueger Partin; and her brother-in-law, Dale Montgomery.

Nelda is survived by three children, Allan Krueger and wife, Marie, of Austin, Kathleen Dube and husband, Jed, of McDade, and Melinda Miller and husband, Craig, of Elgin; 20 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; brothers-in-law, Lowell Giles, of Athens, and Jessie Partin, of Bangs; and numerous nephews, nieces, great-nephews, great-nieces and cousins.

Nelda’s family will receive visitors at Providence-Jones Family Funeral Home in Elgin on Friday, April 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. Her funeral will be held at Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin on Saturday, April 8, at 10 a.m. with a light luncheon following. She will be buried at Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery in Pottsville on April 15 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be directed to Upbring, P.O. Box 140767, Austin, TX, or to Grace Lutheran Church, 801 W. 11th St., Elgin, TX 78621.