Kent Theodore Nelson

On March 9th, Kent Nelson, a beloved father of three, received a sweet summons home after a long battle with heart and lung disease. He is fully healed and rejoicing in heaven.

Kent was born on October 31st, 1946 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Floyd and Lois (Clapsaddle) Nelson. He was a master furniture maker and that was his last passion until illness forced him out of his beloved shop. But he had “mini-careers” in tool and dye making, managing restaurants, lumberman, and ran his own low voltage business for years. He even built two homes for his loved ones.

In October of 1969 he married Linda Torkelson at Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis and from that long marriage came two wonderful boys, Chad and Jesse, and one amazing daughter, Brenda.

His battles with his body started early when at age five he struggled to survive rheumatic fever which affected his heart. Despite that he participated with high school and church sports teams … track, swimming, basketball and he was a formidable slow pitch softball pitcher. A hip injury when he was a teenager, disc problems as a young man, and later issues with circulation all piled on to complicate his life. (And … the fall off the barn roof that almost provoked an early entrance into heaven didn’t help.) But he never complained. The grumpiest he got was when the fish weren’t biting. But then, there was “always tomorrow”.  These last few months he showed how positive he could be even in the face of clearly declining health. His last registered complaint a few days before he died, wasn’t really a complaint, just an observation that he would have liked his White Castle hamburgers even more if they had been warm.  His sense of humor never faded.

Kent was preceded in death by his father, Floyd (Ozzie) Nelson and is survived by his amazing 100 year old mother, Lois, as well as the three children, and Linda. Also surviving are his brothers, Mike and Stephen, six grandchildren and a nice group of nephews and nieces.  

Kent loved:

- Fishing in Canada

- His mother who he called nearly every day

- The Vikings

- Pepsi

- Steak and eggs

- (Not necessarily in that order... but close!) 😊

The family has asked that any donations or memorials be given to Reach Beyond’s community development work in the eastern jungles of Ecuador. Donations can be earmarked “Kent Nelson Memorial” Acct #940125: and sent to: Reach Beyond, P.O. Box 39800, Colorado Springs, CO 80949-9800

He loved Jesus. He’s HOME. Praise the Lord.

Services were held privately.