On February 3rd, 2021 Donald Almon Nelson Jr, husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, passed away peacefully at home at age 77. Don was born June 4, 1943 in Kalamazoo MI, where he lived out his entire life until a brief battle with cancer. He and his wife, Emogene, had two daughters, as well as two sons. Don worked for the City of Kalamazoo all of his adult life, retiring after 40+ years as a public servant in the Streets Division. Don loved travel, camping, snorkeling, tinkering in the garage, and a good Sunday drive (any day of the week, really!); however, he was most content having all of his children and grandchildren over, hanging out in the simplicity of a visit to Nana and Papa's. Don was preceded in death by his father, Donald Nelson Sr, his mother, Vivian Nelson, sister Rochelle Veldt, and his younger brother, Gary Nelson. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Emogene Nelson; his four children: Jennifer Puchalski, Nancy (Kurtis) Shufflebarger, Christopher (Shannon) Nelson, and Nicholas (Christine) Nelson; 8 grandchildren [Tom (Amanda) Puchalski, Meghan (Beau) Knowlton, Barton (Desiree) Brooks, Amelia Shufflebarger, Samantha (Eric) Hoard, Tristan (Sean) Harris, Drew Nelson, Wyatt Nelson] and 5 great grandchildren; his sister Sharon (Robert) Buckley, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Grace Hospice in his honor: Grace Hospice, 2725 Airview Blvd Suite 101, Portage, MI 49002. A memorial service will be held at his interment at Riverside Cemetery, Section A, at 3:00pm, February 11 2021.
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