Nelly Deets (Mrs. Lincoln C.) House Secretary

Nelly P. Deets, (Mrs. L.C.) 1866-1953

Was a member of Des Moines Women’s Club from 1910 to 1953 and, for many years served as “House Secretary” of Hoyt Sherman Place.  In 1919 she was elected to her position for a salary of $75 per month. On May 19, 1920 she was reelected and given a salary of $100 per month. From 1921 to 1948, her residence was the second floor of HSP. The club upgraded the kitchenette and bathroom and repainted most of the house during the summer of 1920.

Mrs. Deets was married to Lincoln Clarence Deets who died in 1918.  They had two daughters, Helen and Grace. Three years after her husband Lincoln’s death, she took the job of House Secretary and moved into Hoyt Sherman Place. At any hour of the day or night she was there to greet groups gathering at the clubhouse.

According to a letter written by the Club’s past presidents: She watched HSP grow from a pioneer home where presidents and generals were guests to one of the outstanding women’s clubhouses in the country.

After retiring from her Club job she moved to San Luis Obispo, California.  She is buried in Perrysville, Ohio with her husband.

The names on a framed thank you poem given to her by the Club, represent some of the many famous entertainers and writers she hosted at Hoyt Sherman Place.  The Deets Room at Hoyt Sherman Place is named in her honor.