Obituaries
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Thomas A. Nelson, age 81, passed away on Sunday, December 6, 2020.
Born on June 2, 1939, Thomas was the son of the late Nels and Esther (Grewenow) Nelson. He was a graduate of Mary D. Bradford High School.
On April 5, 1975, he was united in marriage to Donna Lee Jordan at St. Mary’s Lutheran Church. They were blessed with two daughters, Mary Beth Nelson and Julie Ann Nelson.
Thomas joined the Army Reserves in 1957 and was assigned to Leonard Wood, MO for 6 months of training, upon his return to Kenosha he worked at the family business, Otto Nelson & Moving Storage. In 1961, he was called back into service for a year when President Kennedy activated the 32nd National Guard of Wisconsin. Thomas was one of 4,000 men that were inactive at the time to fill the void.
Upon his return from the service, Tom proudly served the family business for 50 years. He started out as a helper, worked in the warehouse, was a driver and then became the Vice President. In 1988, he became the President of the business until his retirement in 2006. Papa Tom would continue to go to the office daily for a few hours until his health condition would not permit him to do so anymore.
He was a member of St. Mary’s Lutheran Church, the Danish Brotherhood Lodge # 14 and a past member of the Moose Club. Tom enjoyed displaying his collection of old toy moving vans and pictures of old moving companies. He hunted for them regularly, bidding often. He was particularly proud of a 1925 International moving van that was purchased and restored for the company’s 100-year anniversary. Tom kept in contact with his friends all over the country, many from his 60 years in the moving industry.
He was known to many as a kind, generous man always willing to help others. He will be remembered as a loving husband, father, and brother. Thomas is survived by his loving wife of 45 years, Donna Nelson; his children, Mary Beth Nelson, Julie Nelson; his business partner, George (Sue) Follensbee who was like a son to him; his brother, William G. Nelson; his aunt, Bea Sakowski; his nieces, Robin Scott and Rebecca Reed.
In addition to his parents, Thomas was preceded in death by his sister, Dolores Reed.
A special thanks to Dr. Mouhammed Rihawi, Tom’s guardian angel doctor and friend that saved his life when he started having health issues. In addition, the family would also like to thank Dr. Antony Ruggeri and the staff at Aurora St. Luke’s Cancer Center for the amazing care they provided.
Funeral services honoring Thomas’s life will be held privately.
A celebration of Tom’s life will be planned for a later date.
Private interment will take place in Sunset Ridge Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, memorial remembrances may be directed to the Aurora Health Care Foundation program-Aurora Cancer Services Fund, 950 N. 12th Street, Suite A511, Milwaukee, WI 53233 www.aurorahealthcarefoundation.org.
