Owner of Nelson Funeral Home wants to keep going with a purpose
By Stefan Yablonski
L. William Nelson will be 83 in June — and he does not want to retire!
“I think it is having purpose. When I go back home, to Oswego, I go down to the office immediately and check on things, stay connected who has passed and that kind of thing,” the owner of Nelson Funeral Home in Oswego explained. “I still like to help out.”
“The kids are in the office. I don’t do the heavy lifting anymore, but I do like to talk to people,” he added. “I give them a break. With every funeral you have got chairs to set up and chairs to take down and a lot of other stuff. I do that. I like to do that — stay fit and exercise that helps. It is more than just meeting the people. It’s helping out and being more of an assistant position. I have worked with the families before. They like seeing a familiar face. I think it is a comforting feeling to the families when they see me still there. And that is what I just live for. That is good to help out the rest of the gang too. Whatever I can do.”
The Nelson family built the new funeral home in 2005. His son, John, worked with him at the old funeral home before joining him at the new location. “So, he has put his time in,” he said.
He said he doesn’t always feel at ease — “even when I am in Florida.”
“I get more antsy than my wife. Some people are happy with retirement. You know, they aren’t working anymore, they golf and they do all this other stuff. My wife doesn’t agree with me, but I don’t think that is retirement. That is doing nothing,” he said. “I have been doing this for so long. I got my license back in1963-64 and worked in Rochester. I was also in Vietnam. I was fortunate to serve in the US Army mortuary and helped run a collecting point in South Vietnam; and processed over 1,200 dead Americans while I was there. A lot of sad [memories of] kids ages 18, 19 and 20.”
While he has slowed down, “Right now I feel if I slow down any further I’ll be comatose. I want to stay active—”
The residents in his Florida condominium, where he spends the winter months, are looking for stuff to do, he said.
“They want to stay healthy and active. Some of them volunteer at Walmart. They are greeters or whatever. They are doing something. Some of them love to work in the gardens here at the condominium, trim and cut grass and you know, just keep active,” he said. “We have bingo. It is social and it is something to look forward to. We have little events; it is social, you bring a dish to pass. Stay active.”
