Shirley Rebecca Nelson

Born: June 26, 1952

Died: February 17, 2014

Services: 7:00 PM 

Wednesday, February 19, 2014, at Bridges Funeral Home.

Visitation: 5:00-7:00 PM Wednesday, February 19, 2014, at Bridges Funeral Home.

Nelson, Shirley Rebecca “Becky” - age 61, of Knoxville, entered into eternal peace on Monday, February 17, 2014, at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

Becky was born on June 26, 1952, a daughter of the late Emma Jane Kennedy and Neal Franklin Kennedy. She graduated from Holston High School in Knoxville. Becky was a very kind and gentle soul; she had a loving and generous heart, and she had a special love for all animals. She was a professional dog groomer, and she was the long-time owner of Top Dog Styling and Grooming in Knoxville. She was loved by all her clients and their dogs. Becky was the founder and Vice President of the Pet Stylists of Tennessee association and was actively involved in and enjoyed planning an annual training conference for professional groomers for many years. Becky enjoyed genealogy research and was also very active in the Melungeon Historical Society, where she served as the first Secretary/Treasurer of the Society and later as a Board member. She enjoyed researching Civil War records, courthouse records, family archives, and especially loved conducting interviews. All of us in the family are proud of Becky and the research she has done. Because of her, our family history will be passed on through many generations. 

Becky was predeceased by her beloved mother, Emma Jane Kennedy in 2005; her loving grandmother, Mae Kennedy; and two special aunts, Helen Ruth Dickens and Ina Bell Brewer. Everlasting loving memories and special times shared with Becky will be cherished by her beloved son, Jerry Nelson; her devoted soulmate of 36 years, J. D. Reynolds; her beloved father, Neal Kennedy; and her sisters, Peggy Jackson (Randy) of Maryville, Tennessee, Lana Doncaster (Raymond) of Louisville, Tennessee, and her brother David Robeson (Nancy) of Louisville, Tennessee; adorning niece Lisa Madden and her children Corbin, Alayna, and Emmalee; nephews Steven Davis and wife Kathy and their child Haylee; Eric Robeson and wife Valerie and their children Shaunee and Roxanne; niece Heather Doncaster (Joe) and their children Dalton and Emma. Becky is also survived by her special pets she loved and treasured: her dogs Star, Venus, and Diesel; and her cats Ruby and Diamond. 

Funeral Services will be 7:00 PM Wednesday, February 19, 2014, at Bridges Funeral Home with Rev. Mark Large and Rev. Pete Daniels officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley, P.O. Box 51723, Knoxville, TN 37950. Family and friends will meet 10:45 AM Thursday at Sherwood Memorial Gardens for an 11:00 AM interment. The family will receive friends 5:00-7:00 PM Wednesday at Bridges Funeral Home, 5430 Rutledge Pike, 865-523-4999. www.bridgesfuneralhome.com 

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley, P.O. Box 51723, Knoxville, TN 37950.

Cemetery: Sherwood Memorial Gardens (Map)

Location: Bridges Funeral Home (Map)

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Today's Nature Publication Refutes Possibility of a Solutrean Migration to the Americas

A very exciting and definite paper has just been published by Nature, today, titled “The genome of a Late Pleistocene human from a Clovis burial site in western Montana,” by Rasmussen et al. The authors conclude that the DNA of a Clovis child is ancestral to Native Americans.  Said another way, this Clovis child was a descendant, along with Native people today, of the original migrants from Asia who crossed the Bering Strait.

All four types of DNA were tested; Y chromosome, mtDNA, autosomal and X. Everything tested as having come through the Bering Strait from Asia. There was no European admixture.  

This information is very important to a number of academic disciplines. I am sure much more remains to be explored and explained, but we can rest assured in this fact: 

"The researchers concluded that the Clovis infant belonged to a meta-population from which many contemporary Native Americans are descended and is closely related to all indigenous American populations.  In essence, contemporary Native Americans are “effectively direct descendants of the people who made and used Clovis tools and buried this child,” covering it with red ochre.

Furthermore, the data refutes the possibility that Clovis originated via a European, Solutrean, migration to the Americas."

http://dna-explained.com/2014/02/13/clovis-people-are-native-americans-and-from-asia-not-europe/

www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39153/title/First-Ancient-North-American-Genome-Sequenced/



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