James Nelson

1946 - 2025

James Nelson
November 30, 1946 - December 3, 2025
James David Nelson, 79, of Cashmere, WA, passed away peacefully at home after a courageous battle with cancer. Born in Tacoma, WA to Victor and Fern Nelson, Jim grew up in the Puyallup area and graduated from Sumner High School in 1965. He attended Green River Community College and Washington State University and graduated with a degree in forestry technology.
Jim met his wife Barbara in 1969 at Industrial Forest Association, where Jim worked as a manager. Jim and Barb married in December of 1972. They welcomed their son David in the fall of 1974. Jim worked for the Weyerhaeuser Company in Federal Way as a purchaser for their nurseries. The work experience was invaluable, but extensive travel and time away from his family led him to move to the Wenatchee Valley, where Jim started a small fruit orchard in Rock Island. His successful ownership and management of that small orchard eventually led to purchasing acres of orchards across Rock Island, East Wenatchee, and Wenatchee that produced cherries, apples and pears throughout the 1980's and 1990's. Jim and Barb sold their final Wenatchee pear orchard in 1999. Not quite ready for retirement and still enjoying the agricultural environment, Jim then became a fieldman consultant for several fruit companies. He traveled to Australia, Chile, and Brazil with the purpose of teaching their local farmers the process of grafting to produce new fruit varieties. In his later years, Jim enjoyed the outdoors: hunting, camping, and becoming an avid fisherman. He is survived by Barb, his loving wife of nearly 53 years, his son Dave, daughter-in-law Leanna, and grandchildren Logan, Presley, Rylan and Harper. Jim was a proud father and grandfather, spending hours watching them all play sports, perform in theatre productions, celebrating their milestones and achievements with them, writing memory letters to them, and enjoyed learning technology so he could text, send, and receive updates and pictures from them. We are extremely thankful for our last family celebrations with him during his last week, specifically Thanksgiving and his 79th birthday. We would also like to express genuine appreciation for the staff at Confluence Health, Confluence Health Hospice Services, and Jones & Jones-Betts Funeral Home for their care.
At Jim's request, a celebration of life will be held in the spring of 2026.
Please express your thoughts and memories on the online guestbook at jonesjonesbetts.com. Arrangements by Jones & Jones – Betts Funeral Home.