Obituary: Remembering John Nelson

John Frederick Nelson passed away on June 7th at the age of 58. He had been struggling after treatment to heart and lungs. He died peacefully in an Anchorage hospital. John was born September 12th, 1966 to Betty and Don Nelson in Petersburg, joining an older sister Carol Ann. His paternal grandparents were Norwegian immigrants, Fred and Edna Miller Nelson. He attended school in Petersburg and graduated with the class of 1984. John then briefly attended junior colleges in Port Angeles and Yakima before enrolling in a computer drafting course in Portland to begin a career in computer blueprint and drafting. His first job was with a firm in Concord California in the San Francisco Bay area. After experiencing the October 1990 Bay earthquake, it was not long before there was a U-Haul van in front of his living quarters aimed for Alaska and home.

Despite battling Eczema and Asthma in his early years, John was very active in school sports. His small stature kept him off the basketball court, but he pursued swimming and Little League baseball. John won the best swimmer trophy in Alaska for eight and under boys in 1975 and proceeded to exhibit a wall full of swimming ribbons. He spent four years with the Petersburg Little League baseball under coaches Ted Smith and Dave Cottrell. John played mainly second base and catcher. He spent summers pulling on seines with several of the elite skippers out of Petersburg, including Alan Otness with the Commander, Terry MacDonald on the Miss Helen, and Roy Smith with the San Juan. He also crewed on the tenders Amelie and Superior of Icicle Seafoods and survived the rugged derby days of halibut fishing with Mickey Knight.

John is survived by his father Donald Nelson and Uncle Robert Nelson of Petersburg, and half-brother Mike Tennison, and sister Carol Ann Druyvestein Brother in-law Jay Druyvestein of Juneau. Also, daughters Mallorie Weigman of Wilmington, North Carolina, Alyssa Coleman of Sitka, and Emily Nelson of Juneau. Mourners include best friends Dan Dawson and Richie Beal. John was a dedicated and loyal employee of the borough and city of Juneau, serving as project manager of the Juneau Public Works Department doing borough street paving, utilities routing, and parks and recreation facilities.

Above all he was a family man giving his priority, attention, and time to his home and daughters' welfare.

John loved sailing and spent much of his time on a sailboat off Point Loma in San Diego when he was staying at the family home nearby.

He was cremated and ashes will be spread off Point Loma in San Diego Harbor on October 16th, with a portion placed next to his mother, Betty Nelson, in the Petersburg cemetery on his birthday, September 12th.