Sidney L. Nelson

PIERCE -- Memorial services for Sidney L. Nelson, 79, of Pierce will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Zion Lutheran Church here with the Rev. Gordon Bruce officiating and military rites by American Legion Post 72 and the United States Navy Honors Guard. Private family services will be at Prospect View Cemetery. Arrangements are by Stonacek Memorial Chapel, Pierce. He died Sunday, March 18, 2012, at his home. He was born July 27, 1932, at Pierce to Nels and Emma (Lenz) Nelson. He was baptized and confirmed at Christ Lutheran Church in Pierce. Sidney was the youngest in a family of nine children and graduated from Pierce High School in 1951. In his early years, Sid delivered newspapers, set pins in the bowling alley and ran the movie projectors in Pierce. He was always interested in new technology in airplanes and motorized vehicles. He bought a whizzer, a motorized bicycle. Cars became an important part of his life, buying a 1939 Ford and earning the teenage "Hot Rod" nickname because of his modifications to his car. Sidney joined the U.S. Navy Dec. 4, 1951, to Nov. 28, 1955. He used his skills to work on airplane engines and became a Navy mechanic, flight engineer stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas, Hawaii and Japan. He worked on state-of-the-art aircraft such as the Super Constellation used for surveillance during the Korean War. Returning to Nebraska after the service and trading his hot rod for a 1949 Chevrolet convertible, he found work in Omaha as a hydraulics technician for a crane manufacturing business. But he found himself wanting to be near the love of his live, Jeanne Raile from Pierce, who became his wife and life, for the next 55 years. They were married Dec. 16, 1956, at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Norfolk. He returned to Pierce and worked for Gillette Dairy until he retired in 1994 as manager of the ice cream division. He personally filled the first five-quart bucket of ice cream as a test for possible marketing. Sid built stock cars with brothers-in-law Dave "Al" Raile and Ken Raile. He enjoyed fishing and hunting. He and his family became the most avid fans for Nebraska Huskers. In 1970, Sid and Jeanne found 10 acres near Pierce where he and the family moved and completely remodeled a farm house and in 1994, he retired to his "Heaven on Earth." He was a member of Zion Lutheran Church, Pierce, and Pierce American Legion. Survivors are wife Jeanne Nelson of Pierce; son Terry and wife Becky Nelson of Rancho Belago, Calif.; daughter Deborah Udell of Lincoln; Son Inlaw Mitch Houska of Pierce; grandchildren Kyle Kirstine, Norfolk, Josh Kirstine, Stanton, Nate and Jack Houska, Pierce, and Alanna Nelson, Rancho Belago, Calif.; and two great-grandchildren, Madeline Ellworth and Wesley Kirstine; one sister, Mabel Bockelmann of Norfolk. He was preceded in death by parents; one daughter, Jacqueline Houska; five sisters, Eva Blunck, Ethel Larsen, Chrystal Ulrich, Ruth Sporleder, Edna Nelson; two brothers, Clarence and Aden Nelson. Music will be organist Marcia Luebbe and special music by John Petersen, "I'll Fly Away," "How Great Thou Art," "In the Garden."

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Sidney L. Nelson

July 27, 1932 - March 18, 2012