Wooden met his future wife, Nellie (Nell) Riley, when he was a freshman in high school. They were both 21 years of age when they married in a small ceremony in Indianapolis in August 1932.Nellie died on March 21, 1985 from cancer at age 73.
Wooden remained devoted to Nellie's memory until his own death 25 years after hers. He kept to a monthly ritual—health permitting—on the 21st of every month, when he would visit her crypt in the mausoleum, then write a love letter to her. After completing each letter, he placed it in an envelope and added it to a stack of similar letters that accumulated over the years on the pillow she slept on during their life together.[87] Wooden only stopped writing the letters in the last months of his life due to failing eyesight.
Wooden remained devoted to Nellie's memory until his own death 25 years after hers. He kept to a monthly ritual—health permitting—on the 21st of every month, when he would visit her crypt in the mausoleum, then write a love letter to her. After completing each letter, he placed it in an envelope and added it to a stack of similar letters that accumulated over the years on the pillow she slept on during their life together.[87] Wooden only stopped writing the letters in the last months of his life due to failing eyesight.