Malcolm Lee Nelson

On January 14th, 1947 Malcolm Lee Nelson arrived and was the pride and joy of his parents: Malcolm (Swede) Nelson and Dolores Nelson.

The family lived here in Centralia, Swede drove a logging truck, and Dolores worked as a cashier for her parents at The Aumiller grocery store.

Fast forward a few years and it was at the Aumiller grocery store that the family discovered Mal’s love for ice cream. As soon as he could walk, he was often found head first with his feet up in the ice cream freezer digging for ice cream bars.

In the early 1950’s Swede decided to move his family to Northern California where there was a thriving logging industry.

This was the first of many moves for the Nelson family.

Mal would later tell his kids (usually on the first day of a new school year) that he once moved six times in one year to six different schools.

He also got in trouble for fighting six times at those six different schools.

Mal learned at an early age to be independent, with both his parents working during the day, which left him alone to ride his bike from one end of town to the other. He would build model cars, play baseball or Cowboys and Indians with the neighborhood kids, and if there were no kids to play with Mal would condition his throwing arm by tossing rocks at the windows of the schoolhouse.

In the summer of 1959, the family packed up again, and this time they made their way back to Centralia. Mal was happy to go back to where his grandparents and cousins lived. When Mal moved back that fall, he started Jr. High dressed to impress with Levi’s and an Elvis Presley haircut.

He was also ready for the usual fight that came with starting a new school, but instead of a first-day scuffle, he fought for the attention of another new student, a girl in his band class that just moved to Centralia from Yakima.

That girl was Joyce.

Mal once told his daughter Kim that the first day he saw Joyce he said to himself I’m gonna marry that girl.

But, Joyce wasn’t the only girl in Mal’s life in Jr. High he joined F.F.A (Future Farmers of America) so he could show off his pet Cow Star at the local fair.

During one of the livestock expositions, Mal was proudly showing off Star who was in the running for first place. While parading Star around the ring, her horn managed to unbuckle his belt so his pants kept wanting to fall down, Mal skillfully maneuvered the halter to keep his pants up and Star won the Blue Ribbon.

With his confidence riding high from winning a Blue Ribbon, Mal marched around the fair and bumped into Joyce. He asked her if she wanted to go on a ride with him. Joyce agreed to go on a ride with Mal. They found an Airplane ride while standing in line Joyce noticed that the planes were not just going up and down, but they were spinning and she politely asked Mal not to spin the plane he said “Okay, I won’t.” Well somewhere in between waiting in line and getting on the ride Mal “forgot” he wasn’t supposed to spin the plane. Safe to say Joyce didn’t stick around to share any funnel cake with Mal after that.

When Mal wasn’t in school you could find him at home handing wrenches and tools to his Dad as the two worked on Swede’s logging truck and various vehicles. One of the cars the family owned was a 1941 Jeepster that sat abandoned in a back field. Mal saw an opportunity and asked if he could drive this Jeepster that needed some TLC. Swede said if you can get it running you can drive it. It wasn’t too long before 13-year-old Mal had figured out how to change the spark plugs, put air in the tires, and siphon gas from his Mom’s Mercury. He got that Jeepster running and his passion for working on cars was born.

Mal’s love for cars couldn’t have happened at a cooler time in history. The late 50’s were known for Hot Rods and the 60’s brought us the era of the Muscle Car, it also brings us to Mal’s time in High School.

In High School Mal dropped band and ditched FFA. Instead, you could find him in one of three places, working at Safeway, on the mat with the wrestling team, or racing down Main Street… I mean… he was “cruising” down Main Street.

To fuel his love for cars he needed some money for gas and eventually the seven transmissions he went through in his Canary yellow 57 Ford.

When he was sixteen Mal started his career at Safeway as a Courtesy Clerk. Mal would use his job at Safeway to his advantage. Anytime he saw Joyce’s Mom Alma come into the store he made sure to be the one to bag her groceries, and help her out to her car. This seemed to work because Alma would go home and tell Joyce that the cute boy with big dimples bagged her groceries. Joyce took notice and began going to wrestling matches. Mal would wrestle at 165lbs… at least that would be the weight he had to meet at weigh-ins. His coach was strategic, depending on the opposing school’s line up would have Mal wrestle anywhere from 165lbs up to 190lbs.

He earned the nickname RubberMan. He was agile, hostile, and Mo-bile.

One of Joyce’s ex-boyfriends might’ve met the hostile side of Mal one night their senior of high school. In 1965 during a school assembly Mal was receiving his letter for Varsity wrestling his coach confirmed his nickname RubberMan saying it was virtually impossible to pin Mal to the mat, but rumor has it Mal was perhaps a better boxer than a wrestler.

Mal and Joyce graduated in 1965 and began dating, things were going great, but in 1966 Uncle Sam came calling for Mal. Upset and worried that he would lose the girl he fought for Mal talked with his Dad. Swede said, “Well what’s your plan?” Mal responded with “What do you mean my basic training will be in Fort Hood Texas, I’ll have to wait and hope Joyce and I can pick things back up.” Mal’s Dad voiced a famous phrase that Mal heard throughout his childhood, “Well ya Damn Dummy you need to ask her to marry you”. Mal knew to get Joyce’s hand in marriage he would have to ask her father, Larry. Now, Joyce’s father was pretty wise to Mal’s past.

But, Mal got up the courage and marched down to Larry’s work to ask if he could marry Joyce. It was a quick conversation… Larry said NO.

Defeated, Mal would meet up with Joyce and tell her he had asked her Dad about marriage and he said no. Joyce tilted her head and said, “Well I just said you had to ask, I didn’t say he had to say yes.” Mal had a smile like the cat that ate the canary.

A few weeks later, on a late-night car ride home, Mal asked Joyce to reach into her pocket and grab him a Kleenex, to Joyce’s surprise in her pocket was an engagement ring.

The families couldn’t deny the love these two had for each other, so they came together to plan a wedding. Mal had left for Fort Hood Texas for his basic training so the plan was that he had a short leave in August after finishing his training, and they would get married then.

The dress was bought, the invitations were sent, and the church was booked for August 10th, but on August 1st the Army shipped Mal off to Baumholder Germany. The wedding had to be canceled.

While writing to each other back and forth, Mal told Joyce of his time learning to operate tanks, and when Mal was off duty he investigated how the two could be wed in Germany. Several letters later a plan was hatched, and Joyce told her Mom she was boarding a plane to Germany and she was getting married. In November of 1966 Joyce and her parents boarded a plane bound for Germany.

Mal and Joyce were married on November 14th, 1966.

It was a fairytale wedding in a picture-perfect little white chapel on a hill. Mal and Joyce made the most of their two years in Germany.

A fond memory the two would share was when Mal got one week of leave. The two packed up their blue Volkswagen Bug and headed to the Zugspitze’s (ZUHG-SPITZ). They found a hotel that offered a military discount they could get a room and breakfast for $1.50 a day. They scraped up enough money for gas and lodging, but what about food? Mal had that problem solved... he had been “stashing” army rations.

The couple had a backpack full of Beef Stew, Beans, Hershey’s Chocolate bars, and a five-pound bag of black licorice. The two would wake up and throw black licorice out their window to the ducks, take scenic walks in the afternoon, and in the evening enjoy a romantic dinner of canned beans over an open flame on their hotel balcony, oh and nine months later a little 5lb 10oz Kimberly Dawn Nelson arrived.

Coming back to the States, Mal and Joyce were faced with finding jobs and a place to live. Mal came home and set up a meeting with Safeway, they had a Dairy Manager position available, but it would mean leaving family in Centralia and moving to a new town. The young couple packed up and moved to Bremerton.

Mal and Joyce found a tiny one-bedroom apartment for $50 a month.

As the months went on and the couple settled in, Mal caught the attention of a portly senior store manager Dave Hussey, Dave saw a hard worker with the potential to move up the Safeway ranks. A friendship grew between the two and so did a running joke. When it became close to little Kim’s arrival Dave and the staff would come up to Mal and say “Joyce called she needs you to take her to the hospital.” A very excited Mal quickly gathered his things and started to sprint out to his car, only to have the crew stop him, they were all laughing saying “Just Kidding” and “Ahh man we really got you.”

On a warm July summer day Mal was hard at work putting away a milk order when Dave ran up to him and said “Mal, Joyce called she needs to go to the hospital.” Shaking his head Mal said, “Nice try Dave I’m not falling for it today.” Dave with an anxious voice said “NO… Really… Joyce called!!” Mal brushed him off and went back to work. Dave grabbed Mal and said, “No I’m serious if you don’t go get her then I will.” Luckily Mal had plenty of practice in rushing to gather his items and a well-planned route home. Mal rushed home and within a few hours, he was the proud father of a beautiful baby girl.

Mal took to being a Dad like a duck takes to water, he was very attentive always getting up for late-night feedings and cashing in on Daddy-daughter time.

When Kim started walking and talking the young family grew out of the apartment and moved into a duplex with a yard and a one-car garage. Excited to finally have a garage Mal sold an old pickup his father gave him and bought a purple big block 67 El Camino that he souped up. Whenever Mal would take Kim in the El Camino little Kim would say in a very serious voice “Daddy, don’t go fast.”

Mal might’ve slowed up on the road, but his family life sped up when he found out Joyce was pregnant again. In 1972 little Kim got the word that she was being promoted to big sister and Mal too was promoted to assistant manager, with a new job came a pay raise and the chance to buy their first home. The couple purchased a piece of property in Bremerton and picked out plans for a new home to be built. The new home and property were $20,000.

The home was built in time for the family to celebrate Christmas. That February Kim got to welcome her baby sister Shawnda Lee Nelson into the world. After Shawnda was born Joyce was sitting in her hospital room wondering where Mal was. The happy father was standing outside the nursery soaking in all the comments. Everyone who passed had to point out how angelic and cherub-like Shawnda was. Mal beamed and made sure to let everyone know that it was his new baby girl.

The family celebrated several birthdays and Christmas’ in that home and one day Mal mentioned to Joyce “Maybe we could get a Corvette for our family car.”

When Joyce said Ok, Mal knew he had to strike while the iron was hot.

Mal was determined to find a Corvette before Joyce could change her mind. He came across an Aztec gold 1963 split-window Corvette, but Mal decided to pass on that car because the dealer wouldn’t have it ready to drive home that day. (Mal later in life kicked himself for not waiting a day to get that Corvette.)

But later that day he did finally find his Red 1964 Corvette, which became his daily driver for years to come.

Mal had become comfortable at Safeway and enjoyed working with his mentor Dave Hussey. What Mal didn’t know was that Dave was quietly talking Mal up to Safeway’s District Managers. The company was looking for a veteran assistant manager to help open a brand-new concept store that was nearly finished with construction. It would have new departments like a bakery, a deli, and a fine wine section. Mal won the job over several other candidates. He was a month into his new job when the store manager suffered a heart attack and would be out for 3 months (the store was supposed to open in 3 months). Mal was tasked with hiring, training, and setting up the whole store. It was a stressful time for Mal but he pulled off a successful opening.

In August 1976 Malcolm also pulled off a successful robbery. When Joyce gave birth to their son Travis, Mal was so excited to have a son, a little Malcolm he ran into the hospital gift shop and stole a box of cigars. He started running down the hall and handing them out to everyone. Luckily Joyce’s father Larry saw the crime happen in real time and went in and paid for the box of cigars.

In 1978 Mal was promoted to store manager, and he was given his own store. There was one tiny problem… his new store was in Sumner a good hour-plus drive from Bremerton. Mal endured the grueling drive for a couple of months while he and Joyce put their house on the market and looked for a new place closer to his work.

The two found the perfect family home at the end of a cul-de-sac each kid had their own bedroom and Mal got a two-car garage.

The move to Puyallup brought along a successful career for Mal with Safeway which let him retire at the early age of 54.

Mal’s forever home is full of cherished family moments and loving memories.

One memory that Kim has is hearing Mal’s Corvette turning down the road to the house. She knew when it was time for Dad to come home from work so she would be waiting in the driveway wearing her baseball mitt and holding her Dad’s mitt. Mal would never say no to a game of catch, but he always had to go change outta his work clothes into his sweats.

Shawnda remembers when she fell off the swing set and sliced her cheek open. Dad took her up to the ER to get stitches and when she was hurting Dad would always say squeeze my finger. Shawnda was a little accident prone so Mal had many trips to the ER with Shawnda.

Travis remembers playing with his Star Wars figures in the bathtub and Mal would throw frogs in the water with him.

The whole family remembers waking up to April Fool’s Day jokes. One year everyone had peanut butter under their car door handles, and the next year saran wrap over the toilet seat.

All the kids remember getting their first cars.

At 16 Kim had a 70 1/2 RS Z28 Camaro – her car was so cool she got the class wheels award that year. Kim also thinks that’s why her husband Scott dated her.

Shawnda had a 63 Impala that all the guys in her class drooled over.

When Travis was 12 – on Kim & Scott’s wedding day – Mal went and loaded-up Travis’s dream car... a 57 Chevy.

Mal was a loving dad. He gave great hugs and would pull his kids over and give them a big kiss on the top of their heads. Whenever Joyce or any of the kids (including grandkids) would say “I love you” to Mal he would always respond with “double ditto”.

Mal also passed down some words of wisdom to the family

• He told his kids to always tell the truth and never lie no matter how bad they thought it was, always tell him the truth.

• Never go to bed mad at each other.

• Always put your tools back after using them

• Never trust a fart

• Relax, Take a deep breath. That was always in sports, but it works pretty good in life too.

Mal didn’t know a stranger. He could and would talk to anyone.

In his conversation the person he was talking with would find out he was an old car guy, that he worked for Safeway for 38 years and he coached his grandsons and great-granddaughters’ baseball teams.

This person could be a parent at a baseball game, a clerk he bumped shoulders with at the hardware store, or a telemarketer trying to sell him new gutters.

When he was finished talking with you, you could hear him say “It was great to talk to you” and seal it with a handshake. If he really liked you, he would say he was a “hugger” and you would receive a comforting embrace with a pat on the back.

Mal was a man you could depend on. If he could help you, he would.

Another thing he was known for, was he was able to fix and repair almost anything. Joyce often told the kids to just wait til Dad gets home, he can fix it.

He could put an addition onto the family home, fix an engine that froze, and oil up a baseball mitt to be worn. He even repaired a lightsaber made of toilet paper rolls. If it was in this galaxy or a galaxy far far away Mal could fix it.

Mal isn’t physically with us anymore, but his spirit will live on and you can find him anytime you pass the ice cream aisle or drink a milkshake. When you hear the roar of a big engine or when you’re watching a little league baseball game.

If you close your eyes you can also hear him, if you say...

I love you Mal

I love you Dad

I love you Gramps

I love you G-PA

We can just picture Mal sitting up in Heaven – wearing his car shirt and Levi’s – and he’s watching over the family and saying, “Double Ditto”.