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BORN
1951
DIED
2018
Robert NELSON Obituary
Above all else, Mike Nelson loved his family. He leaves behind the love of his life, wife Kathy Nelson with whom he traveled the world for the last 20 years, and nine children: Janessa Vogenthaler, Robbin Reeves (Robert Selig), Daniel Reeves (Yesenia Uribe), Donald Reeves (Shelly), Alyssa Nelson (Roger Price), Ilsa Toepfer (Greg), Carolyn Hostetler (Hoss), Erika Nelson Warne (Kris Henry), Laurel Weingand (Erich), as well as thirty grandchildren, one great-grandchild, many friends, and his beloved dogs, Woody, Oliver, and Stanley.
Mike grew up outside Rosamond in Willow Springs along with his siblings, Mary (Green), Terry (Ashkar), Jim, Bruce, Richard, Gordon, and Barbara (Read), their parents, Robert E. and Mary M. Nelson, and "honorary brother" Bob Hemmis. Mike graduated Rosamond High School in 1969 and studied engineering at Stanford. A lifelong Dodgers fan, he left the university for a year to play baseball at Antelope Valley College before returning to finish with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1974.
He settled back in Willow Springs, starting a family with his first wife, Nancy, and serving as school board president for Southern Kern Unified in the 1970s. Based on an invention they worked on with their father, Mike and his brother Richard further developed the family businesses, Willow Springs Company and Reserve Systems, Inc., manufacturing and selling equipment to mining companies worldwide, eagerly employing staff from many local families, and caring for the land. He realized his childhood vision of planting the hillsides with grapevines and fruit trees, including his favorite - peaches.
Mike found great joy in mentoring others to find goodness and capability in themselves, like he took pleasure in restoring antique cars to their glory. He battled cancer with dignity and courage thanks to support from City of Hope and AV Hospital.
Friends are welcome at the memorial celebration Saturday, March 10, 2:30 pm in Willow Springs.
Donations in Mike's honor can be made to Children's Hospital Los Angeles or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Robert NELSON
1 Entry
Ken Marschall
March 11, 2018
I'm very sorry to learn of Mike's illness and passing, last night via Elise (Nelson) Hicks, Mike's cousin. It can't be said that I knew him well, but he, his brothers and I played together at their home in Willow Springs when we were about 10 or so (I remember helping make a below-ground "fort"), and it was a delight to reunite with him and other Nelson family members so many years later in the summer of 2004, the first I'd seen them since the early '60s. Mike showed me around his shop, and we reminisced.
My heartfelt condolences to all who loved him.
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