Willard E. Nelson

Willard E. Nelson left this life on July 18, 2018 at the age of 98. He was born January 12, 1920 in a Brooks Scanlon logging camp just south of Bend Oregon. He was the 3rd of 4 children of Stella and Ernest Nelson. He attended school in Bend where he played football and ran Track. For 2 years he was the state champion in the high school half mile. His record held for 25 years. In the fall of 1938 he attended Oregon State University on a track scholarship and majored in wildlife management. He enlisted in the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor during WWII and served as part of a combat surgical team on Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. After the war, in 1946, he married Alice Redmond.He graduated from OSU and worked for the federal fish and wildlife service eventually becoming a state supervisor. He retired in June, 1975. He loved fishing, hunting, woodworking, his family and his church. Besides Alice, his wife of 72 years, he is survived by 2 daughters, Kathryn Cabe (Gary) and Joyce Beadnell (Rick), 4 grandsons, 8 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. On August 18th at 11 AM, a service will be held at Tigard United Methodist Church: 9845 SW Walnut Pl. Tigard, OR 97223. Donations in his name can be made to the Church or Habitat for Humanity.