Arthur Leonard Nelson Jr.

Arthur Leonard Nelson, Jr., 99, died Friday, Oct. 19, at The Villa at Bella Vista in Mesa. Art was born April 5, 1919, on the family farm near St. James, Minnesota. He graduated from St. James High School in 1938, and worked on the farm until enrolling in Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis, where he learned the sheet metal trade which would be his life work.

Art was drafted into the U.S. Army near the beginning of World War II, and served in the North African and Italian theaters until the end of the war, being part of the first landing in Casablanca.

While in military training at Williams Field near Mesa, Arizona, he met Rosabelle Lawrence in 1942 at a U.S.O. dance, and they were married June 12, 1942 in Mesa. Art and Rosabelle celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary in June 2017, prior to Rosabelle’s death in March, 2018. They were together constantly, except for the nearly three-year separation caused by the war. They often reminded us they didn’t have Skype back then, either, and that Art’s letters home often included more holes and blackouts than text, due to strict wartime censorship.

Art was a lifelong member of the Sheet Metal Workers Union, and was due to receive his 70-year pin this year. At various times when the union was on strike during the 1950s, Art also drove hay trucks between California and Arizona. Art and Rosabelle lived in California, Montana, Minnesota, and Oregon before settling in Mesa for good in 1959.

Upon retirement in 1981, Art and Rosabelle traveled across North America for 20 years, most frequently pulling a fifth-wheeler RV. They would often spend summers at their daughter and son-in-law’s farm near St. James, Minnesota, where Art happily put to good use the skills he had learned as a youth.

Art and Rosabelle’s other leisure passion was ballroom dancing, at which they excelled, usually going to two or three dances a week around the East Valley, where they formed many lasting friendships. Art’s favorite dance was the polka.

Art is survived by his son Larry (Marilyn), daughter Cathy Noren (Dwayne), grandchildren Jennifer Nelson, Melanie Nelson (Warren Hedley), Sean Noren (Kerry), and Dareth Noren Herman (Nick Herman), and seven great-grandchildren, Alannah and Zara Hedley, Mason, Ava, and Noah Noren, and Brayden and Camden Herman. He is also survived by his 100-year-old sister Aladeen Noren of St. James, Minnesota, and many nieces and nephews.

Art’s family want to extend their deepest thanks and appreciation to all his wonderful caregivers and medical professionals with Bella Vista, The Villa, and East Valley Hospice. We couldn’t have asked for better care.

Art and Rosabelle were members of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mesa since 1959. A memorial service will be held at this church, 142 N. Date, Mesa, 85201, at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10. Memorial gifts may be made to either First Evangelical Lutheran Church or East Valley Hospice, 1311 W. Chandler Blvd., Ste.200, Chandler, AZ 85224.