I'm late posting this remembrance of you, Artie... You birthday on June 30 would have seen you turn 74... your death on July 7 marks 9 years since you died. We are reminded how time passes quickly and then flies by even faster the older we get. Life misses you... I miss you. You sure have beautiful great grandbabies and they are so very precious. You and Kay would be so proud. Bev has a new job and is finally being recognized for her talents, knowledge and wisdom. Tony Dawson passed away... I hope you know that and were able to greet him at heaven's gate like you did when you would see him in Wooster, Ohio. I love you, my brother. Happy Birthday!

Your birthday is like my own heart beating... as long as I live, Artie, you will be remembered and loved. I wish I could reach beyond the veil that separates from all of us who miss you to tell you how you made our lives better. I want you to see your life had great meaning and purpose. May God continue to hold you in His arms until we are together again. Happy Birthday, my brother.

Arthur Wilhelm Nelson II
June 30, 1949 - July 7, 2014

I lived only 14 months before Artie was born... so he was my shadow, the one I got into trouble with as a child, fellow giggler, back seat buddy in the car… always up for a bike ride, building a fort or catching minnows or crawfish in the creek. I cheered him on at his baseball games... he was a crackerjack pitcher and third baseman but could actually play any position better than most... and he watched my basketball and volleyball games. We shared the same bedroom up to 3rd & 4th grade and he always got the top bunk. We were often in the same Sunday school classes... liked the same foods and TV shows. He looked like Dad's side of the family, I looked like Mom's family so we had the DNA covered. When twins Beverly Lynne and Frederick Charles were born, he took care of one baby and I would look after the other. We laughed and cried over the same things. When Mom & Dad were arguing we consoled each other. When he was bullied at school over his disabled hand or his red hair, I was his defender... We chased horned-toads and lizards in the Texas bush & swam in the Gulf of Mexico together. We had many of the same friends... and when Daddy got a military transfer with the US Air Force we would tell our friends goodbye and shed tears together. We walked to and from school together... we bowled (real 10-pin bowling) together, and just like our parents, we were very good at this sport... but he was better.
He could run faster and climb higher and was fearless to ride our neighbor's horse then give me a hand up so I could have a turn. We literally breathed the same air for 18 years and after our lives took us to different parts of the country, he would drive his Krueger Metal big rig through Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Ft. Wayne, Indiana or Ft. Walton Beach, Florida for an overnight stay. On those short visits and when our families would get together in Arizona or Ohio, I could draw deep breaths again. He was funny… really funny! He had uncommon common sense and was as stubborn as a mule once he had his mind made up. He would do anything for anybody and worked hard his whole life.
NASCAR and his dogs, his sons & grandchildren and his bride…his life's love, Jennifer Kay Nelson, were his passion, his reason for living. His sons had been misdiagnosed as ADD-ADHD and put on Ritalin. Arthur took himself off the meds when he was about 12 and called his mom at work to say he wanted his life to end. She rushed home to find him hanging from the big tree in the middle of their yard. With help from neighbors, she lifted him up until EMS arrived and his life was spared. Art gave up long distance driving after that and went to work delivering beer for Anheuser-Busch, a job he dearly loved. When he lost his job with Anheuser-Busch as a dock foreman, he took his 401K money and started Nelson & Sons Landscaping and Hauling Company. He worked himself to the bone in the blistering Arizona heat transforming clients’ yards into works of art, often with a fountain or water feature. He adored hummingbirds and the Sonora desert around his Tucson home. He became an expert on the flora and fauna of the desert but would drop it in a minute to go fishing with anyone who wanted to go. He had all his bad teeth pulled and got new dentures before he died, so he had a beautiful smile and was proud to show it off.
Art and Kay endured great sorrow for years as their sons became involved in lives of crime and stepped to the plate to help their daughters-in-law raise their grandchildren with absent fathers.
Arthur drove straight through from Arizona to Florida to say goodbye to our mom as she lay in ICU on life support while carrying so much grief in his heart and mind already with his wife slipping away from aggressive brain degeneration - Picks Disease –and he stood with Bev by our dying father’s bed until he drew his last breath.
When his beloved Kay died in 2013, he nearly lost his mind… he had made a promise to her to never put her in a home… but this was a promise he could not keep because his own health deteriorated so badly. Ann, Kay’s oldest sister and guardian, made the difficult call to place Kay where she could have 24 hour care for her own safety and to allow Art to sleep in more than 10 minute increments. Art was beside himself with grief and I believe he made up his mind that if he could not be with Kay he didn’t want to live. He literally died of a broken heart.
Art spent his last months in constant companionship with his best friend & brother-in-law, Lyman. He loved Kay’s family from the depths of his soul and was humbled and grateful beyond what words could say that they let him live out his last days with them fighting COPD for his own last breaths. We talked nearly every day on the phone and I would end our conversations with, “Just keep breathing, Arthur…” and at his request I’d sing Robert Munsch’s song with my own beautiful Celtic tune…
“I’ll love your forever, I’ll like you for always…
As long as I’m living… my brother you’ll be…
As long as one of us is living… Family we will be…”
I made 7 trips to see my brother in Wooster, Ohio those last 18 months, but as I look back on it, it was not enough. I still regret that I was not with him when he died. I should have been in that room… breathing the same air… as he took his last breath.
On my last visit to be with my brother in early June 2014 he was near death, slept 20+ hours a day and hardly ate or moved. We watched Duck Dynasty and he laughed a bit in one of the rare moments he was awake. His beloved brother-in-law, Lyman Dawson, cooked for him but he didn’t eat much. Homecare nurses and Hospice visited regularly. He was on oxygen 24/7/365. His faithful dogs, Koko and Tiny lay on his bed, on his body. Lyman, Ann and I helped him to the bathroom and I spent that visit sitting and sleeping in a recliner by his hospital bed in their dining room under a sign they made and hung over his bed that said “Art’s House”. I cried silently knowing this might be my last visit to see him alive.
As often happens with those near death, his rallied. He’d go out to the back yard to sit with Lyman, or to the man-cave in the attic. We got him to take a few short rides into the gorgeous Ohio farming countryside. We went to the mausoleum to visit Kay, but he had a hard time going inside.
Our last visit there, he went in and dropped to his knees in front of her vault and wept openly, talking to her under his breath. It was holy… sacred… wrenching… to see him on the floor like that, bent over, shoulders shaking in grief, but I tiptoed away to give him privacy and shed my own tears knowing he was telling her he would soon be with her. In the quiet of wee-hours fitful sleeping he would reach out to take my hand… “I’m glad you came, Patsy… I can breathe easier knowing you are in the room…” I returned to Canada and tried to pick up my life as Town Councillor and Realtor.
Arthur Wilhelm Nelson II turned 65 on June 30th, and one week later, on July 7, 2014 this kindred-soul of a brother, my life long partner, the one remaining person who knew me my entire life, drew his last breath with Ann and Lyman by his side. We set his funeral to fit Bev and I being able to attend the Bruce Family Reunion in August and have family at this service. Bev wasn’t able to attend after all, so with Ann & Lyman and their family and friends, we paid tribute to this humble man, a giant among men. I gave a truthful, celebratory eulogy for my brother, and sang...
“I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always…
As long as I’m living, my brother you’ll be…
As long as one of us is living, family we will be…”
His ashes were contained in a brass box and placed in the same vault with Jennifer Kay's ashes.

Artie... you were such a good brother. I still reference so much in my life from our time growing up together. I was knocked out of my orbit by your death... but God, who set the planets in motion, can give us new direction and new places to orbit. Loving you and missing you still, my Brother.
Patricia Ann

June 30, 2014
For 65 years of my brother, Art’s , life… we grew up together, lived long distances from each other all our adult lives, but have remained close. We buried our parents together, buried his wife together, and still find a way to laugh together. Thank you, God, for sustaining his life. Keep breathing, my brother… (1 week before he died)


Oct 17 2010
Sis
People clapping over your re-election created a windstorm, blowing 40-50 degree weather all the way to Tucson, Arizona! Thanks a hell of a lot! I'm proud of you. Love ya. (Humor - his mid was quick... he always made me laugh)
Art

Happy Birthday, Art... I've been missing you so much these last few weeks. Little did I know 6 yrs ago when I posted your birthday pictures and message on Facebook that you would be gone in only 7 days. Your family continues to grow... you are celebrated by those who love you, and we continue to keep memories of you alive for the littles in our lives. Always and forever... your Sis... Pat

I vacillate between "How could it already be 5 years since you died, my Brother... and "5 years is too long without you..." Remembering you today, Arthur, and reminding your grandchildren that you carried them in your heart and mind every second from the first moment you knew they would be born... Arthur V "Jr.", Nikole, Dillon, Kyleigh (Alexander), Mia, Keegan (Beau), Chase, Colt, Callahan... Patsy Ann

Today was a very weird day. It felt off... unusual behavior from one family I worked hard to help... happy wedding for one of my clients who so deserves happiness... showed a vacant property 9pm-10:15pm to another family I haven't seen in several years. Ate a bowl of soup for supper @ 11:15pm Odd out-of-step feeling still hung over me and then I remembered that 4 years ago today my brother, Art, passed away. No wonder today seemed different... June 30, 1949 - July 7, 2014
Arthur Wilhelm Nelson II
2018 - I lived only 14 months before Artie was born... so he was my shadow, the one I got into trouble with as a child, fellow giggler, back seat buddy in the car… always up for a bike ride, building a fort or catching minnows or crawfish in the creek. I cheered him on at his baseball games... he was a crackerjack pitcher and third baseman but could actually play any position better than most... and he watched my basketball and volleyball games. We shared the same bedroom up to 3rd & 4th grade and he always got the top bunk. We were often in the same Sunday school classes... liked the same foods and TV shows. He looked like Dad's side of the family, I looked like Mom's family so we had the DNA covered. When twins Beverly Lynne and Frederick Charles were born, he took care of one baby and I would look after the other. We laughed and cried over the same things. When Mom & Dad were arguing we consoled each other. When he was bullied at school over his disabled hand or his red hair, I was his defender... We chased horned-toads and lizards in the Texas bush & swam in the Gulf of Mexico together. We had many of the same friends... and when Daddy got a military transfer with the US Air Force we would tell our friends goodbye and shed tears together. We walked to and from school together... we bowled (real 10-pin bowling) together, and just like our parents, we were very good at this sport… but he was better.
He could run faster and climb higher and was fearless to ride our neighbor's horse then give me a hand up so I could have a turn. We literally breathed the same air for 18 years and after our lives took us to different parts of the country, he would drive his Krueger Metal big rig through Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Ft. Wayne, Indiana or Ft. Walton Beach, Florida for overnight surprise visits on his way to somewhere. On those short visits and when our families would get together in Arizona or Ohio, I could draw deep breaths again. He was funny… really funny! He had uncommon common sense and was as stubborn as a mule once he had his mind made up. He would do anything for anybody and worked hard his whole life. NASCAR and his dogs, his sons & grandchildren and his bride…his life's love, Jennifer Kay Nelson, were his passion, his reason for living.
Art’s sons had been misdiagnosed as ADD-ADHD and put on Ritalin. Arthur took himself off the meds when he was about 12 and called his mom at work to say he wanted his life to end. She rushed home to find him hanging from the big tree in the middle of their yard. With help from neighbors, she lifted him up until EMS arrived and his life was spared. Art gave up long distance driving after that and went to work delivering beer for Anheuser-Busch, a job he dearly loved. When he lost his job with Anheuser-Busch as a dock foreman, he took his 401K money and started Nelson & Sons Landscaping and Hauling Company. He worked himself to the bone in the blistering Arizona heat transforming clients’ yards into works of art, often with a fountain or water feature… but would be ready in a minute to go fishing with anyone who wanted to go. He adored hummingbirds and the Sonora desert around his Tucson home and became an expert on the flora and fauna of the desert. He had all his bad teeth pulled and got new dentures before he died, so he had a beautiful smile and was proud to show it off.
Art and Kay endured great sorrow for years as their sons became involved in lives of crime and they stepped to the plate to help their daughters-in-law raise their grandchildren with absent fathers.
Arthur drove straight through from Arizona to Florida to say goodbye to our mom as she lay in ICU on life support while carrying so much grief in his heart and mind already with his wife slipping away from aggressive brain degeneration - Picks Disease –and he stood with Bev by our dying father’s bed until he drew his last breath. Kay’s deterioration escalated and in a desperate attempt keep her memory alive, Art drove back and forth between Arizona grandchildren and Ohio mom & sisters. This took an enormous toll on his health. 
When his beloved Kay died in 2013, he nearly lost his mind… he had made a promise to her to never put her in a home… but this was a promise he could not keep because his own health deteriorated so badly. Ann, Kay’s oldest sister and guardian, made the difficult call to place Kay where she could have 24 hour care for her own safety and to allow Art to sleep in more than 10 minute increments. Art was beside himself with grief and I believe he made up his mind that if he could not be with Kay he didn’t want to live. He literally died of a broken heart.
Art spent his last months in constant companionship with his best friend & brother-in-law, Lyman. He loved Kay’s family from the depths of his soul and was humbled and grateful beyond what words could say that they let him live out his last days with them fighting COPD for his own last breaths. We talked nearly every day on the phone and I would end our conversations with, “Just keep breathing, Arthur…” and at his request I’d sing Robert Munsch’s song with my own beautiful Celtic tune…
“I’ll love your forever, I’ll like you for always…
As long as I’m living… my brother you’ll be…
As long as one of us is living… Family we will be…”
I made 7 trips to see my brother in Wooster, Ohio those last 18 months, but as I look back on it, it was not enough. I still regret that I was not with him when he died. I should have been in that room… breathing the same air… as he took his last breath.
On my last visit to be with my brother in early June 2014 he was near death, slept 20+ hours a day and hardly ate or moved. We watched Duck Dynasty and he laughed a bit in one of the rare moments he was awake. His beloved brother-in-law, Lyman Dawson, cooked for him but he didn’t eat much. Homecare nurses and Hospice visited regularly. He was on oxygen 24/7/365. His faithful dogs, Koko and Tiny lay on his bed, on his body. Lyman, Ann and I helped him to the bathroom and I spent that visit sitting and sleeping in a recliner by his hospital bed in their dining room under a sign they made and hung over his bed that said “Art’s House”. I cried silently knowing this might be my last visit to see him alive.
As often happens with those near death, his rallied. He’d go out to the back yard to sit with Lyman, or to the man-cave in the attic. We got him to take a few short rides into the gorgeous Ohio farming countryside. We went to the mausoleum to visit Kay, but he had a hard time going inside.
Our last visit there, he went in and dropped to his knees in front of her vault and wept openly, talking to her under his breath. It was holy… sacred… wrenching… to see him on the floor like that, bent over, shoulders shaking in grief, but I tiptoed away to give him privacy and shed my own tears knowing he was telling her he would soon be with her. In the quiet of wee-hours fitful sleeping he would reach out to take my hand… “I’m glad you came, Patsy… I can breathe easier knowing you are in the room…” I returned to Canada and tried to pick up my life as Town Councillor and Realtor.
Arthur Wilhelm Nelson II turned 65 on June 30th, and one week later, on July 7, 2014 this kindred-soul of a brother, my life long partner, the one remaining person who knew me my entire life, drew his last breath with Ann and Lyman by his side. We set his funeral to fit Bev and I being able to attend the Bruce Family Reunion in August and have family at this service. Bev wasn’t able to attend after all, so with Ann & Lyman and their family and friends, we paid tribute to this humble man, a giant among men. I gave a truthful, celebratory eulogy for my brother, and sang...
“I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always…
As long as I’m living, my brother you’ll be…
As long as one of us is living, family we will be…”
His ashes were contained in a brass box and placed in the same vault with Jennifer Kay's ashes.

2018 means you have been gone from this life for 4 years, Arthur... 4 long years for us and the blink of an eye for you. I smile when thinking of our lives growing up and trying to stay connected after leaving home. Here are some things I have learned in living beyond you...
1) No matter how difficult our lives are, they are still worth living and still worth hanging on to the very last second because these seconds, moments, hours, days, weeks, months and years is all we will have until we are reunited in heaven.
2) Family, no matter how dysfunctional, is all that really matters.
3) Family will disappoint us and hurt us, but they are still worthy of our love.
4) When we do something for our grandchildren we truly make our great-grandchildren's lives better.
5) None of us expects to live beyond those younger than we are. But where you are concerned, I'm glad I didn't leave you behind to feel like I have felt since losing you.
6) Grief is not a moment in time but rather, a passage, a very long passage for which there are few words to explain.
7) As long as I am living, I will remember you and try to keep your memory alive for those you and Kay loved.
June 30 will always be your day... Happy Birthday! Patsy

"Art-
My Brother-in-Law, My Brother in Christ, My Friend,
I can't believe it's been 3 years since you went to be with your beloved Kay in heaven! Even though I know you are better off physically, I still miss you & always will.

R.I.P. my brother... remembering you and your wonderful laugh... deep, thoughtful reflections on life... arriving just in time to see Mom before she died... loving care of Kay and Dad... for your hard working life... for loving and helping to raise your grandchildren... for the tender way you cared for Jackson, Tiny, Koko, Tink... for coming to see us in Canada... for always rolling out the red carpet at your Tucson home... <3

Artie -
I'm loving you still, my brother... 3 years ago your 65th birthday was the last you would have on this earth.... one week later you drew your last breath and departed this live for a reunion with Kay and Mom and Dad...
I celebrate you everyday for you were the most precious gift that mom and dad ever gave me....Happy 68th Birthday!

Remembering you with love on the 2nd Anniversary of the day you passed from this life to eternal life, Art. You always felt your life was less than it should be, that you could have been a better person and done more for your family. But you never saw yourself through our eyes... you were such a good, good man, and a loving husband, a dad who helped your sons and the best grandpa your grandchildren could have had. I hurt when I think of how complicated seeing those kids became when their parents' marriages ended... such a sorrow settled on you and Kay. But there you were, ready to step in and show them how loved they were. Thank you for all the love you gave to Bev and me, Mom and Dad and Fred... and my children. Our time together was precious... the memories more precious still.

July 7th 2015 draws to a close on the 1 year anniversary of your death, Art. I'm still trying to figure out who I am without you... But this I know without a doubt... you are still loved and remembered... your legacy lives on in your grandchildren and our memories of you... and this world was made better by your 65 years, 7 days of living.
Your Sis... Pat

Art was a good friend and a great Brother-in-Law. I will always remember Art for the good man that he was and I look forward to seeing him again in heaven.

Art Nelson was my kids buckaroo! He loved them and they loved him. If I ever needed help with anything for his grandkids, I knew I could always count on him. The memories that my kids shared with him will forever be in their hearts. I wish they would have got to see him one more time. But I know he is their angel in heave watching over them. Both him and Kay.