On April 3, 2024, the world said goodbye to an incredible man, and so did we. No words can fully describe Robert William Nelson—otherwise known as Bob, Bobby, Willie, Boob (in France), Dad, and Grandpa Bob.
Bob, 78, of Palm Coast, Florida, passed away peacefully in his home, where he lived with his wife, Marcia, since 2020.
Bob was born on November 3, 1945, in Independence, Missouri to the late Oscar and Alice Nelson.
Bob graduated from William Chrisman High School in 1963 and attended Florida State University and Northwest Missouri State University, where he played basketball. Bob was an outstanding athlete and excelled in all sports. His favorites included basketball, softball, golf, and fishing. Bob also loved to read, watch the news, and eat fried fish, Mexican food, and his mother’s apple pie!
Bob began his career as a high school teacher and coach. He later was a cool DJ with a wild Afro, an excellent salesman for Olean Tile and Mattel, and a fearless military contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wherever he went, he came back with new friends and stories to tell. His tall and strong stature, and his “larger than life” personality lit up any room. He was always the life of the party, even before he opened his mouth. He just had that “presence.”
No one will forget Bob. He is even remembered in France as “the American Cowboy” at his daughter’s wedding.
So, where did our big, strong cowboy go? He’s listening to some country music and doing a little two-step with the angels in heaven and all his loved ones who have gone before him—wearing his cowboy hat, rattlesnake skin boots, and shiny belt buckle.
Bob is survived by his wife, Marcia Bloomquist Nelson, of 37 years; daughters, Kimberly (Parker) Nelson Hall and Marci (Benoît) Nelson Foucault; step-daughter, Angie Larson (Lance Keller); step-son, Alexander Vyskocil; grandchildren: Marc Foucault, Paul Foucault, Julien Foucault, Brody Hall, Alexandre Foucault; step-grandchildren: Nick Larson, Téa Larson, and Zander Vyskocil; sisters: Patricia (Robert) Mann and Carol Sue (Glenn) Comstock; brother: John (Carol) Nelson.
Bob is preceded in death by his parents and granddaughter, Alison Grace Hall.
A Celebration of Life for Bob will take place at a later date. The Nelson family has entrusted arrangements for Bob to Clymer Funeral Home & Cremations.
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David Harris
R.I.P. Bob. As little shavers we were sometimes inseparable. I lived on West Ruby and you lived on S. Liberty. We had school classes together. For "show-and-tell" in Miss Parks' second grade class, you were Captain Marvel and I was Superman. In our homemade costumes we ran around the class chasing a couple of fellow students we enlisted to be the bad guys. (Miss Parks was truly a tolerant woman!) I attended different schools (Ott and McCoy) during 4th and 5th grades when I lived in east Independence. You had an emergency appendectomy during your fourth or fifth grade year and my mom and I visited you in the hospital in Kansas City. When you were well and recuperated, you came to spend a day at my Queen Ridge Drive home.
As we played that day we trespassed on a nearby property that included a large pasture with fruit trees and cows, with no house in sight We were climbing apple trees and checking out birds' nests. A bull appeared and began making its way towards us. You were lower and scampered down the tree to safety beyond a nearby fence. The bull wanted to hang around near the base of the tree I was in. I had no idea what to do and wondered if I might have to spend the rest of the day in the tree. You moved further away on your side of the fence and eventually distracted the bull so that I could scoot down the tree and scale the fence to safety.
During our 5th grade year, a citywide free throw shooting contest was held at Hanthorn school. I represented McCoy, and you represented Noland. You and I tied with 3 out of 10 freethrows. They made us do a playoff round of five. I made two and you made none so I walked away with the trophy. That would be the last time I would outperform you in basketball.
In sixth grade, I was back at Noland School and we had the venerable Mrs. Jewel Constance as our teacher. She was fabulous! Among other things, she enjoyed playing softball with us on the playground. You and I greatly enjoyed speed races at the chalkboard solving math problems. We thrived on the competition. During that year, I served as student council president for a semester and then you served in that capacity during the second semester. During that same year we shot our BB guns in the forested area of the Bingham-Waggoner estate. One of us shot a bird that fell out of a tree, wounded. When we picked it up it was so beautiful and colorful I was ashamed of harming God's wonderful creature. We decided we needed to put the bird out of its misery and did so. I swore than I would kill no more birds and I remained true to that promise. During that same year, we played "21" for matchsticks with a card deck, and we sometimes spent time shooting baskets in my church's small gym located at Pleasant and Walnut. I remember well your older sister, Carol Sue, and your even older brother, John. Your mother Alice was always kind to me. Who can forget your dad's snack bar at Crysler Stadium? When we were young we shagged foul balls at Crysler, earned some money, and spent it all at that snack bar. In those days, you were "Bobby."
In junior high and high school we continued to engage in sports. At some point you became "Bob," rather than "Bobby." At Crysler Stadium you played for Cash Bargain and I played for Bell Pest Control. We were competitors. We played on the same high school baseball team at Willie Chris--you at third base and me at second base. We did not spend time together during our high school years away from the basketball court and baseball diamond. During our junior and senior years we made it to the state tournament for basketball. During our senior year we only lost a couple of games in the regular season. You and Larry "Oscar" Robinson were star players. I was a starter and a decent rebounder but couldn't hold a candle to you and Oscar in scoring with my mere six or eight points a game. While being the same height in grammar and junior high school, you began grow more steadily and clearly stood above my 6' 1 1/2" frame.
You went on to play college basketball. After a year in college I went to France and Belgium for 2 1/2 years as a missionary. Immediately after I returned from France in the spring of 1967, you and I bumped into each other in the Bingham Waggoner mansion field watching the largely defunct Waggoner-Gates flour mill burn down, following an explosion. After that, we saw each other briefly at two or three class reunions but otherwise had no contact. I have a fun photo of you and Lowell Miller at our 50-year class reunion picnic pretending to choke me for a bonehead play I had made on the basketball court against Lee's Summit in 1963.
Again, rest in peace, Bob (Robert William Nelson). I learned things from reading your obituary.
Dave