Bob passed away at home with his wife and daughters at his side. He was born in Platte, South Dakota and was the youngest of Oscar and Bertha Nelson's 5 children. They moved to Yuma when Bob was just 6 months old. He graduated from Yuma High in 1954, where he was very active in FFA and raised animals for the Yuma County Fair. He was proud of being a Criminal and a loyal fan of all their
sporting events. He attended Arizona State College (now NAU) for a time, but soon ran out of money and returned home to Yuma where he met and started dating Connie Hawkes, also a Criminal, and they married in 1956.
As a union carpenter he worked for his oldest brother, Dwight, until 1974 when he started his own company, Nelson B Construction. Over the next 30 years he built over 100 custom homes, several service stations and many commercial projects throughout the Yuma area. He was a lifetime member of the Elks. He had lunch with his best friends Winky, Straw and Bill every Wednesday. He loved going to El Golfo and riding in the desert and sand dunes. Bob and Connie enjoyed traveling in their motor home all over the USA, Mexico and Canada. In 1996, they built a vacation home in Flagstaff and enjoyed many summers there. He enjoyed playing cards, fishing, hunting, bowling and even took up photography for a while.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, who misses him now and forever, his daughters and their spouses, Janet (Mike) Tucker and Judy (Rick Orta) Nelson. His grandchildren, Adam (Lindsey), Eric and Will Tucker and Ricky (Alexis) and Aly Orta. His great-grandchildren, Marcus Eisenmann, Brooklyn and Cash Tucker and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Bertha and Oscar, his siblings and their spouses, Dwight (Marie), Dolores (Harry) Powell, Lyle (Mary) and Keith. His daughter, Donna and son-in-law, Richard Sherman, his grandson, Brian Eisenmann and nieces, Gail LaDoux and Kathryn Nelson Vorndam and many friends.
