seeker, road trip warrior, trumpet player, and father of four passed away on
December 17, 2021, at Grandvue Medical Care Facility in East Jordan, MI.
Rey was born November 23, 1927, in Chicago IL, the son of Reinhold and
Mary Rose (List) Nelson. He married the love of his life, Gloria Gae Perry,
on May 12, 1951, in Chicago. They moved to Morton, IL in 1967 and to
Buena Park CA in 1977, later moving to Corona CA. That started a trend
where all three of his daughters moved to Southern California.
Survivors include daughters Jamie (Jim) Baumann of Boyne City MI, Teri
(Steve) Dickerson of Riverside CA, Sandy (Tom) Lynch of San Juan
Capistrano CA; son Eric (Heather) Nelson of Prescott AZ; 14 grandchildren,
and 12 great-grandchildren and two half-sisters. He was preceded in death
by his wife Gloria in 2005, a brother and several half-brothers, whom he
discovered late in life. He was fortunate to meet them after searching for
several years. Funeral services will be held at Pierce Brothers Crestlawn
Mortuary in Riverside CA on January 17, 2021 at 1:00 p.m..
Rey graduated from Senn High School in Chicago and worked as a
lithographer for several printing firms throughout his long life. He enjoyed
flying, and worked as a flight instructor and parachute club pilot at Pekin
Airport in Illinois. He flew as a commercial airline pilot for Skystream
Airlines of Plymouth, Indiana. He was a music lover and an original
audiophile, one of the first to have a “Hi-Fidelity” sound system, which he
frequently played for his family and neighbors. After a heart attack at age
55, he started Rey Nelson Printing out of his garage and, with the help of a
dozen loyal employees including Teri and Steve Dickerson, expanded the
business to a large operation based in Ontario, CA.
He reluctantly retired at age 84 to live in Sun City Summerlin, Las Vegas
NV where he and Gloria had purchased a second home. One of the
highlights of the later years of his life was a giant 92nd birthday party in Las
Vegas, attended by family members, many of his former employees as well
as many members of the Donald Palbykin family.
Starting in 2015, Rey began living with his daughter and son-in-law, Jamie
and Jim Baumann, splitting their time between Las Vegas NV and Boyne
City MI, until finally settling in Boyne City.
The family greatly appreciates the wonderful, caring staff who looked after
Rey for the last few days of his life at Grandvue Medical Care Facility.
Memorial donations may be made to the Grandvue Foundation, 1728 S.
Peninsula Road, East Jordan, MI 49727.
There will be a celebration of life gathering at the Elrod/Dickerson home immediately following the services.
We will be having a Celebration of Life gathering immediately following the services. Please click on link below for more information.
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.evite.com/event/0213MVDOBMLHLUO76EPMMOUIW2VMKQ/__;!!M2D_dUfSiN4E!ZBT8yUyd6oRy4-zMkQ0TNb0E0tBBZ-aqchfVHJ-2M8HiGbDzFbyq2AG0jyVfzA9nwEyMZqY-9-s$ [evite[.]com]
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