Very sad story. I am sure Elder Nelson is going through a very hard time. We should keep in and his family in our prayers.
Deseret Morning News
Dantzel Nelson, wife of heart surgeon Elder Russell M. Nelson of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve, died Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005, at her Salt Lake home.
Sister Nelson was 78.
In Saturday's Church News, Elder Nelson said that during their early years of marriage, his wife never murmured about making do on very little.
"We have dealt with disappointment, disease and death among our children," he said. "But death cannot divide families sealed in the temple. The period of separation is only temporary."...
During their early married years, finances were tight. Both were attending school. Finally, Sister Nelson graduated from college and landed a teaching job during the day. At night, she worked as a clerk in a music store.
During those lean years, they also sold their blood, something that led the young medical student to suspect that Sister Nelson's mother "didn't think her daughter had much of a husband."...
https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600111826,00.html
Two things are to be noted here in my mind:
1. How Pres. Hinckley seems to be outliving all these associates and friends
2. How these people started out in 'humble' or 'average' circumstances and grew to become something that I am sure they would have never imagined.
As was said in another thread, one can hardly know what a great support these Sisters are to their husbands.