Robert "Bob" Earl Nelson

Robert “Bob” Earl Nelson, 88 of Amarillo died Friday, June 15, 2018.

Funeral services will be at 2:00 p.m., Friday, June 22, 2018 in Schooler Funeral Home Brentwood Chapel with Rev. Dr. Jacob Miller officiating. Burial will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery. Arrangements are by Schooler Funeral Home, 4100 S. Georgia, Amarillo, Texas 79110.

Mr. Nelson was born September 7, 1929 in Mutual, Oklahoma.  His Father was a farmer and he spent a year or two in Mutuals one room schoolhouse.  When the family moved to the City of Woodward he had to work hard with schoolwork but he never gave up. That alone tells you a lot about him. He went on to graduate from Woodward High School in 1948.

Mr. Nelson (known as Bob) became an Eagle Scout at the age of 14. He was very proud of that, 14 is young to make Eagle Scout. He became interested in airplanes and took his first solo flight when he was 16 (and yes he had his own plane, so when one teenage girl was telling another “Robert is going to ask you out does he have a car?” “No, but he has an airplane”) He obtained his Commercial Pilots license when he was 18. On April 9, 1947, at 8:42 p.m., a tornado hit Woodward. Robert helped out as much as he could, he joined with an ambulance crew and worked most of the night. This was an experience a 17 year old should never have. You could see the pain in his eyes when he talked about that night.

Robert served in the United States Army from February 27, 1951 to February 12, 1954 and was in Germany for the Army of Occupation as a SGT. With his first marriage he had a son, Robert Nelson Jr.

On August 4, 1994 he married Hellen Finck Richards, she gave him three stepdaughters and one stepson who were all grown up with families of their own.

He loved life and enjoyed it especially after his retirement. He was able to do thing he couldn’t do before. Maybe that’s why it was impossible not to love him, you could feel his love for life.

Before retirement he moved a number of times and worked for Cessna Aircraft, a Trucking Company, Industrial Maintenance, Auto Sales and Real Estate. He worked extensively with Boy Scouts having been a Scout Master in both Hereford, Texas and Woodward, Oklahoma. Bob square danced for about 10 years, before Hellens health no longer allowed her to go. She passed in 2005.

As time passed there were things he could no longer do, or do as well as he felt they should have been done. In 2006, he asked his step granddaughter Tialene Perkins to move to Texas and help with the books on his rental houses. Bob fought cancer for 5 years with the help of Tialene, and in 2013, stepdaughter Nina Jacobson by his side. Following a 2 week stay in the hospital, Bob was released and passed away peacefully at his home.

Bob is preceded in death by his parents, Earl C. Nelson and Rebecca Mary Nelson; his wife, Hellen Nelson; son, Robert E. Nelson Jr.; stepdaughter, Gwen Zachery; step-grandson, Joseph Jacobson; and brother, Paul Nelson.

He is survived by grandchildren, Rebekah Nelson Bell, Nathan Earl Nelson, Heber Clinton Nelson and David Fielding Nelson; step children, Ida Perkins, Nina Jacobson and Zehn Richards; step granddaughter, Tialene Perkins as well as 7 others.

The family suggest memorials be made to your favorite charity.