David Paul Nelson

1929 - 2023

David Paul Nelson, aka Dave, passed away peacefully on January 31, 2023 at the age of 93. Dave was born in San Francisco on March 18th, 1929. He grew up in San Francisco and was a graduate of Lincoln High School. Dave was the middle child of Cyril Nelson and Magrethe (Nielson). He graduated Cal Berkeley in Business and worked for a year before getting drafted into the Navy and immediately went to officer candidate school in Newport RI. He served in the Pacific as an officer during the Korean War and witnessed the first Hydrogen bomb detonation during the atomic testing of the mid 1950's. While stationed in the Pacific Dave would often have leave in Honolulu, it is here that he met the love of his life, Nathalie Jean Stewart, aka Skippy Nelson. He would go on to marry Skippy on June 22, 1957 and remained married to her for 62 years until her passing in 2018. Dave worked at various jobs, during which he invented and designed a weighing system for chlorine tanks used in the water treatment industry. This invention was eventually patented and became the main product for his company Force Flow Equipment which he started in 1967. He is survived by his two children, Lorie Wilborn (Don) and Mark Nelson (Sara), and four grandchildren, Zach Wilborn, Amber Wilborn, Kate Nelson and JP Nelson. His laughter and love of a good joke was only exceeded by his love for his family, and he absolutely loved spending time with them in Lake Tahoe and Maui. Dave loved to travel and his adventuresome spirit took him to every state in the USA, Europe, Polynesia, Asia and the Caribbean. He skied many mountains and enjoyed golf in his younger years. He worked at his company until he fully retired at the age of 87. In lieu of flowers donations to Hospice of the East Bay would be deeply appreciated.