Jeffrey Charles Nelson

Jeff, the eldest of three children, was born on September 30, 1948, in Gladstone, Michigan to Merwin and Carol Nelson. He graduated from Escanaba High School in 1966 and went on to study nursing at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Minneapolis. Upon completing the RN program, he took a position at a hospital in Park Rapids, Minnesota, kickstarting a 37-year career in healthcare.

Following a vacation to the Pacific Northwest, he made the move to the Seattle area. In 1985, Jeff met the love of his life, Kyoko, and they married in spring the following year. They went on to have two children, Jay and Hana. He was a loving and supportive husband and father who worked hard to provide a good life for his family.

Jeff enjoyed car racing and tuning up his Formula Vee in the garage. As the kids got older, he moved on from racing so he could attend all their sporting events on the weekends. He loved spending time with family, mowing the grass and working in the yard, rooting for the Mariners and Seahawks, and traveling overseas. He shared one especially memorable trip with Kyoko, his siblings, and their spouses as they visited Sweden, where their grandmother came from, and saw the house she grew up in.

He loved doing things himself. One year, he painted the entire exterior of the family’s two-story home, all with a roller and a brush, because he said that a sprayer wouldn’t do as good of a job. It took him the entire summer and part of the fall, but the house looked great. He was an honest man with unwavering integrity and strong in his Christian faith. He also had a goofy sense of humor that could always bring a smile to your face.

Jeff was preceded in death by his father Merwin Wesley Nelson, who died February 24, 2014, and his mother Carol Pauline Nelson, who passed away on December 10, 2017.

Jeff is survived by his wife Kyoko, children Jay (Sarah) Nelson and Hana (Zach) Roberts, and grandson Koa Nelson. He is also survived by his brother Gary (Donna) Nelson, sister Julie (Gary) Olson, his aunt Joan Anderson, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A memorial service for Jeff will be held on Saturday, May 10 at 1:00pm at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Kirkland, with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, a donation in memory of Jeff may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at https://www.alz.org/.