Jon Nelson

Jon Walter Nelson died unexpectedly, but peacefully with his family by his side on March 26, 2025. He was only 67 years old. The family is deeply saddened and shocked by his sudden death. Jon was born on November 19, 1957.

Jon is survived and missed by his loving wife Lisa (Hahn) of 39 years and his children, Ryan and Emma Nelson. Jon is also survived by his siblings and their families; George & Elvia (daughter Lyla), Steve & Tara (Dowd, son Cassius); Gary & Lynell Morrison-Nelson (son Louis and daughter Reily).

Jon was predeceased by his father Walter and his mother Donna. He was also predeceased by his in-laws, Daniel & Carole Hahn.

He was born in Vancouver, WA, grew up in Olympia, WA and later moved to Seattle after high school. Jon spent his teenage summers working on forest fire crews in Washington often on fires with his father and older brother George. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1983, in Chinese Language and Culture. He worked at the UW Print Plant, where he met his wife while she was earning a degree in Graphic Design.

Jon and Lisa moved to San Francisco where they married on September 26, 1986, and lived there for three years before moving back to Seattle. In 1990, they moved to Taiwan for a year, while they traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia. Moving back to Seattle, they started their family.

Jon’s career started in San Francisco as a Customs Broker. He continued that career in Seattle and landed at Nordstrom in 2002, where he worked in Customs Compliance for 18 years, retiring in 2020. While at Nordstrom, Jon traveled extensively and had many trips to China, Italy, India, Canada, and Brazil.

Jon loved fishing and hunting and researching every detail about every location that he went to. He wanted to know everything about the area and its history. He kept logbooks and files with maps, brochures, amenities, and the best highlights to see.

Many friends spent weeks salmon fishing with Jon and family at Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It is a very beautiful and rural setting with a close-knit group of people who come from all over the world to fish there. We would camp and in later years rented the charming cabins that had been used as part of the original Telegraph Station from 1911. This was the summer highlight for years, where many friendships were formed.

Jon was an incredibly involved dad. He ardently participated in the Little League community for many years. He coached Emma’s team for 5 years, watching her move on to Softball through middle school and high school. Ryan also moved on to play Baseball in middle school and high school and continues to play today.

After Jon’s retirement from Nordstrom, his focus was on home improvements and gardening. Jon remained a “student” throughout his life. He studied and practiced his Mandarin daily and particularly enjoyed it when he had the opportunity to use it when ordering a holiday meal or dim sum in Seattle’s International District.

In the last few years he was taking classes on world politics, art/drawing, weather and climate, retirement planning and other worldly topics. He enjoyed arriving prepared with thought-provoking and engaging questions for the professors.

Jon will be remembered by his community as someone who was very sincere and loved meaningful discussions on any topic.

Please join us for a Celebration of Life to honor Jon.

Held at Sunset Bay Lodge at the Ballard Elks

June 1, 2025, 4-8pm

In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity in Jon’s honor.