Roy Elliott Nelson

Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was the only child of Roy and Irene Nelson. He attended and received a Bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University. Roy was in the ROTC program while in college, and upon graduation, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. While stationed in Nagoya, Japan the ever-charming Roy met a beautiful Red Cross employee named Gayle Juve in the spring of 1955. They were wed on Valentine’s Day in 1956. Roy and his family resided in Elk Grove Village, Illinois from 1956 to 1966, at which point he relocated his family to Salem, Oregon. He worked as a stock broker for several companies for over 30 years and retired from Smith Barney. However, being a stock broker was his second career; his first career was modeling for various publications in his youth.

Roy was a man who won many friends with his outgoing personality. He’s been described as being the life of the party; a fun-loving sweetheart with a great sense of humor, a big laugh and a smile that you could see a mile away. He excelled at joke telling and loved an audience!

Roy was an avid OSU Beaver fan and served as President of the Salem Beaver Huddle. Back in the day, he was a member of the Salem Lions Club. Additionally, he served on a committee that helped to create the Eco Earth Globe on the south side of Salem’s waterfront park. Golfing was a favorite hobby of Roy’s and you could always count on him being at Salem Golf Club every Thursday. Roy and Gayle loved to travel together, with Santorini being one of Roy’s favorite destinations.

Roy is survived by Gayle, his wife of 61 years, children Kimberly (James), Mark (Leslie), and Dawn (Michael); grandchildren Tiffany, Daniel (Amber) Patrick, Paul, Calista and John; and, his first cousins, Dolores Roscoe and Judy Kickert.

A 2 PM service will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2017 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 1770 Baxter Rd SE, Salem, OR 97306. A reception will follow. Assisting the family is Howell, Edwards, Doerksen with Rigdon-Ransom Funeral Directors.

A special thank you to all the good people at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Salem Hospital, Salem Transitional Care, Sweet Bye N Bye and Willamette Valley Hospice.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the ministries of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church.