GARDNER, W.Va. – Sam Nelson fought a hard battle for 7 years against stage four breast cancer but tragically lost the fight on January 26, 2025.
As the theater teacher and cheerleading coach for PikeView High School one of her last wishes was to see her students make it to Disney World, and she taught all of her students no matter what ‘The Show Must Go On.’
One of her students says what ‘The Show Must Go On’ means to her now.
“Push through, even though this event is one of the hardest things that we have went through here at school, like push all the performances back. This is one of the hardest probably is the hardest. It just reminds us that her slogan was the show must go on and she would not want us just to quit doing what we love, what she loved just because something like this happened,” said Jillian Hemminger, PikeView Theatre Students.
Described as someone you could always count on, a cool aunt, and a second mom, the students say the impact she left on their lives will continue to follow them.
“She always was there for me, especially when it came to like getting the money for the trip. She was always trying to help me out a lot. She would always like make sure I’d be able to go, and she was just always there,” said Katlyn Kinney, a PikeView Theatre Student.
“She was incredibly charismatic, and like I said earlier, she’s incredibly hard. She worked hard for every single one of us to have each of the opportunities that we have now” continued Kinsely McCormick, a PikeView Theatre Student.
From teaching to cheerleading Nelson made sure her squad knew she was there for them.
“As a person she was very, like, influential to me. She was a great cheer coach. I loved how, like, well she worked with us, and how she was just very helpful. She was always up to do things. Up to help the school, help the cheer team, help anybody really, and she was just overall just a great, kind person. She was just always there for me,” said Ava Thompson, PikeView Cheerleader.
Before making their way to Disney World, after going through one of the hardest life challenges they found support through Nelson’s family as well.
“Every single person who was at like Miss Nelson’s memorial or anything that was family, all of us knew who we were. Cause she never shut up about us apparently. She loved us to death, and we were her family,” said Lyida Fraley, a PikeView Theatre Student.
Nelson’s mother wanted to also make sure the students had something to take with them to Disney that Nelson would have done.
“She made like little, like Disney bags, with like matching ears, and she gave us a bunch of things just to make Disney better, and in the bags she put like snacks, which Ms. Nelson called snacky snacks, and she made the bag exactly how she thought Ms. Nelson would want it, and it just, it meant a lot,” said Jillian Hemminger, a PikeView Theatre Student.
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