Ivo Amazon Nelson, Jr.

Ivo Amazon Nelson, Jr. was born in Enid, Oklahoma on October 15, 1926. He was the third child of Ivo A. Nelson, Sr. and Kate Vermillion Nelson. Ivo lived most of his early life in Tulsa Oklahoma where he graduated from Will Rogers High School. He volunteered to serve in the Army Air Corps and was in training when World War II came to an end. After his release, Ivo returned to Tulsa and married Dolores Davis, his high school sweetheart in June, 1947. He graduated from Tulsa University with a degree in zoology. Ivo and Dolores moved to Amarillo and then Perryton, Texas, where he traveled extensively selling pharmaceutical supplies for McKesson and then Squibb. With a family of three children, Laura, Ivo, and Emily, he and Dolores relocated to Waco, Texas in the early 60’s. Ivo continued to sell pharmaceuticals until he retired in the late ‘80s. Just before he retired, they built a house in Eddy, Texas on 20 acres. To be closer to children he and Dolores later moved to Hideaway Lake near Tyler, Texas and then to Elkins Lake and, finally, Sunset Lake in Huntsville, Tx. Ivo was first and foremost a family man. He often took the family camping and loved to swim and water ski. He was always involved in church activities including youth programs and singing in the choir at Central Presbyterian Church in Waco, the Methodist Church in Lindale, and First Presbyterian Church in Huntsville. He loved music (played piano and even the cornet in his high school band) and sang in a barbershop quartet choir. Listening to live performances and mostly classical recordings was a favorite pastime of his. Woodcarving, reading, traveling and growing roses were his hobbies. He even compiled and published his family history through letters from his grandfather, Erik Nelson, a famous missionary in Brazil and his father, Ivo Sr., a medic in World War I. Ivo played golf, which is an understatement, as he did so nearly every day after Dolores passed in 2014 if he got the opportunity. Ivo was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Dolores, his brothers Erik and Fred, his sister Kathryn, Dolores’ sisters Dodie and Danna, and his son-in-law Butch Evans and grandchild Erik. Ivo’s extensive family included children Ivo D. and Sally Nelson, Laura and Tom Caperton, and Emily Evans - all living in Huntsville, Texas on “the compound” at Sunset Lake. At his passing, he had seven grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren who knew him as “Gramps.” In lieu of flowers, please make donations to: amazonoutreach.org We will celebrate his unique life this coming Saturday, July 13th, 3:00 pm, at First Presbyterian Church, Huntsville, TX. Memorial condolences may be made at www.shmfh.com.

Ivo Amazon Nelson, Jr.

October 15, 1926 - July 7, 2024