Pearl E. Nelson

Pearl E. Nelson (née Sarella) was born on May 5, 1912, in Winooski, Vermont, though little else is known about her early life.¹ By 1950 she was living in Providence, Rhode Island with her husband.² Sometime between 1953 and 1960, Nelson began working as a private chef for then-Senator John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy at their home in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. When Kennedy became president and moved into the White House in 1961, Nelson continued working for the Kennedys. She cooked most of the Kennedy family’s private meals, while White House Executive Chef Rene Verdon and his assistant, Julius Spessot, prepared formal meals and State Dinners.³ According to Mrs. Kennedy’s secretary Mary Gallagher, Nelson created a “famous fish chowder recipe” that the Kennedys reportedly enjoyed.⁴

White House Chief Usher J.B. West claimed in his memoir that First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy tried several times to fire Nelson, believing her to be unnecessary with so many White House chefs working at the same time. However, Nelson always managed to convince the first lady to keep her on staff, resulting in Mrs. Kennedy asking J.B. West to fire her. Instead, West convinced Nelson to resign by offering her two weeks of lodging in the White House while she looked for new employment. “Pearl, our guest, was on top of the world for two weeks,” said West. “The maids made her bed. The chef prepared her meals, which were served by the butlers. She rode around in White House cars.”⁵ 

Little is currently known about Nelson’s life after she left the White House. Around 1981 she moved to Tallahassee, Florida. She passed away there on February 18, 1986.⁶ She is buried in Springvale Cemetery in Rumford, Rhode Island.⁷