John NELSON

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NELSON: John Olie Einar Nelson passed away at the Valleyview Care Centre on Saturday, May 25, 2019 at the age of 95 years. He was born on May 14, 1924 in the Municipality of Clanwilliam to Olivia and Adolph Nelson. He was the first child in the family, followed by a younger brother Norman in 1927. John married Ruth Mary Ziprick on August 11, 1951 and celebrated 65 wonderful years of marriage together until her passing in December 2016. On May 14, 1953 John and Ruth were blessed when their precious twins Beverley and Brian were born. This was an extra special gift for John, since the twins arrived on his birthday. He couldn’t have asked for a better gift of a daughter and a son to complete their family. This would start the annual tradition of the twins celebrating their birthday with their father, up to and including his 95th birthday that was recently celebrated. John was a very hard worker throughout his life. When he moved off the family farm to Brandon, he was employed at North American Lumber where he enjoyed carpentry work. He also joined with other painters around town and worked tirelessly painting many houses and other buildings both inside and out. He was also employed at the Brandon Water Treatment Plant for many years, and at the same time he worked at his tree pruning business “The Pioneer Boys” with George Jago. John also worked at the “S & N” grocery store, which he was a proprietor along with his brother-in-law Monte Schappert. John had many interests and hobbies. One of his greatest pleasures was visiting the family farm, and spending time with his beloved horse “Pat-Me-Now”. He would go riding on her for many hours and even went hunting with her. Hunting was another one of his passions. He used to hunt elk when he lived off the farm, but would continue to go hunting in the later years for ducks, geese, prairie chickens, and ruffled grouse. There were a couple of memorable trips that meant a lot to John. There was a trip John and Ruth went on to BC with his son Brian and his wife Cheryl, where they met up with family and relatives and made a lot of wonderful memories. Then there was the fishing trip to Burntwood Lake Lodge for John’s 75th birthday which he would reminisce about both those trips for years to come. John loved attending Calvary Temple Church, and had a very strong faith. Every Christmas, John and other friends from the Church would travel to the family farm area near Erickson and cut down spruce tree boughs to bring back to Brandon. These would be used for the formation of the Singing Christmas Tree production at Calvary Temple, which his wife Ruth would sing in for many years as well. In the later years, John and Ruth became season ticket holders for the Brandon Wheat Kings for a number of years. Family was very important to John, especially the moments he got to spend with his grandkids, as well as the visits from the great-grandkids later on in his life. John and Ruth lived in their house at 236 Victoria Avenue until health conditions forced John to move into the Parkview Senior Housing Complex, as well as staying at Victoria Landing later on. The last seven and a half years John resided at the Valleyview Care Centre. John was predeceased by his father Adolph in 1965, his mother Olivia in 1971, brother Norman in 1999, and his wife Ruth in 2016. John is survived by his daughter Bev (Don) Webber; his son Brian (Cheryl) Nelson; grandchildren Steve (Jennifer) Webber, Matt Webber (Shauna Semenowich), and Pam Nelson; great-grandchildren Marcus and Preston Wright, and Benjamin and Olivia Webber. John is also survived by many nieces, nephews, and extended family. The Celebration of John's Life was held at Memories Chapel on Saturday, June 1, 2019, officiated by Pastor Gary Jennings and followed by a private interment at Danvers Cemetery, R.M of Clanwilliam, MB. If friends desire, memorial tributes may be made to a charity of choice. Expressions of sympathy may be made at www.memorieschapel.com

As published in Brandon Sun on Jul 13, 2019