Elmer Nelson

On June 28, 2011, Elmer Oscar Nelson, age 92, went home with Jesus to be with his heavenly family. Elmer was born in August 1918, near Eaton, Colorado, where he was raised and worked in farming. His parents had immigrated to the United States from Sweden and he was proud to be an American citizen. As he grew, five sisters were added to his family and whether they knew it or not, he felt protective of them. One of his favorite stories to tell was about the quarter horse he bought from a nearby family. Elmer rode it bareback and raced the other kids and always won with that horse. After WWII began Elmer left the family farm business to enlist in the Army March 1941.  His name is on a plaque with 59 others in a city park in Well County, Colorado, because they were the first to leave without being drafted. In the Army, he worked in the supply division of the quartermaster corp. He worked and trained on various bases in the United States for three years and then headed to Hawaii to prepare for the mainland invasion of Japan. Since Elmer had been in the service the longest in his company, he was placed in charge of 115 draftees and was told to get them on the boat to head for Japan. The night before they left, a bunch of the “kids” went into town for their last night of “freedom” and he had quite a job rounding them all up and getting them on the boat. The invasion was called off when Japan surrendered and Elmer was placed in charge of 10 Italian prisoners of war working in a warehouse in Hawaii. Elmer left the military to go back to work on his family’s farm but returned to the Army a few months later when the farm was sold. Before leaving New York City for Germany & Austria, Elmer celebrated New Year’s Eve in Time Square. He was assigned to the Counter Intelligence Corp. He used an Army motorcycle to courier and gather information to find Nazi’s and other displaced persons. He was there for the Nuremberg trials. After leaving the Army in 1949, Elmer worked as an auto mechanic and moved to eastern Washington. While working at the Dodge garage in Richland, he met the secretary there. In 1955, the garage went broke, but he married the secretary, Alma Luellen (Lou) Graham and they moved to Pasco, Washington. Together they enjoyed square dancing and had a son in 1956. Elmer continued working as an auto mechanic until he retired and also worked on heavy equipment repair at a paper mill. Due to health issues of their son, Gene, the family moved to Yakima, Washington in 1963. Elmer enjoyed the outdoors including fishing, hunting and motorcycle riding. The family purchased a cabin west of Yakima where they could spend time in the mountains. Elmer and Lou enjoyed having daily coffee with their close friends at a local coffee shop. They and their son were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Yakima, where they attended regularly. After Lou’s passing, Elmer’s closest friend became his little dog, Jiggs, a longhaired Chihuahua. For the first 2 days Jiggs lived with Elmer, he stayed under the bed and wouldn’t come out. After that, Jiggs was Elmer’s constant shadow for many years. Elmer moved to western Washington in 2005 to be closer to his son. Members of his original Christian worker families often visited Elmer. From their in-home meetings they would bring him notes of their Bible studies and conventions. He was a man of few words unless you got him started talking about his favorite stories from the past. His son Gene would visit him daily and together they would reminisce, watch hunting and fishing shows on the outdoor channel and discuss current family and world events. Elmer is survived by his son, Gene (Judy), grandchildren Tiffany (Marty), Amanda (Fono) and Makena, great grandson Dillon and sisters Shirley (Bill), Stella (Heinz), Lilly (Bob), and Mary (Gene). He was preceded in death by his wife, Lou Nelson in 1994, and his sister, Bernice (Carl) in 2010.  Memorial service will be at 2:00 pm on Saturday, July 9, 2011 at Rill’s Life Tribute Center in Port Orchard.