By
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
John Roy Nelson
1936 - 2026
Born:
April 27th, 1936
Passed Away:
August 25th, 2026
Obituary
JOHN NELSON Obituary
Funeral services for John R. Nelson, 90, will be held 11:00 A.M. Saturday, September 19, 2026, at Unity Christian Fellowship 1523 Erwin Street in Douglas. Inurnment will be in the Douglas Park Cemetery with military honors accorded by Wyoming Army National Guard Military Funeral Honors.
John passed away Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at his home near Douglas with family by his side.
John Roy Nelson, son of Roy Walter and Ethel June (Lackas) Nelson, was born in a farmhouse near Magnet, Nebraska Monday, April 27, 1936. He graduated from Magnet High School in a class of seven seniors in 1953. He attended Wayne State College, Norfolk Junior College, Cameron University and Eastern Wyoming College. He graduated from Texas Tech University at Lubbock, Texas 1963 with a bachelor's degree in Geology.
The first 18 years of his life were spent on a Nebraska farm. He ventured to the Texas Oil fields and was eventually drafted into the United States Army in 1958.
John and Mary Frances McAnally, of Pampa, Texas were married in 1959 and made homes in many areas of the nation as well as in Peru, South America before settling in Douglas, Wyoming in 1980.
He was proud of his contributions to the community of Douglas. Instrumental in engineering the Sheep Mountain Well, Ridgewater Homeowners Association Board, Ridgewater Home Improvement Board, and Converse County Library Board. He was always willing to share his expertise anyway he could.
He began a mining career in New Mexico underground uranium mines and later in various copper, lithium, phosphate, gold and coal mine operations.
In 1971, he was especially proud of being able to move his family to Toquepala, Peru, South America for nearly four years, while employed at the Southern Peru Copper Corporation in the Andes Mountains. The family has many pleasant memories of living in Peru. Not many would commit such a large family to life in an unfamiliar foreign environment.
Survivors include his children, Deborah Nelson of Douglas, Renee’ (Tom) Miller of Laramie, Wyoming, Doug (Michelle) Nelson of Kingsland, Georgia, and Randy of Wilmington, North Carolina; grandchildren, Travis (Jenny) Miller, Matthew (Jaden) Miller, Kacy Nelson, Reid (Anne) Nelson, Devin (Reem) Nelson, Garrett Nelson, and Jacob Nelson; great grandchildren, Grady Miller and Emmy Miller; and sister, Marilyn Arnold of David City, Nebraska.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, on December 11, 2020; parents Roy Nelson on October 31, 1968, and Ethel Nelson on November 16, 2004; brother, Stuart Nelson, on September 23, 2025; and daughter-in-law, Beth Nelson, in 2014.
The Gorman Funeral Homes-Converse Chapel of Douglas, Wyoming assisted with the arrangements.
Funeral services for John R. Nelson, 90, will be held 11:00 A.M. Saturday, September 19, 2026, at Unity Christian Fellowship 1523 Erwin Street in Douglas. Inurnment will be in the Douglas Park Cemetery with military honors accorded by Wyoming Army National Guard Military Funeral Honors.
John passed away Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at his home near Douglas with family by his side.
John Roy Nelson, son of Roy Walter and Ethel June (Lackas) Nelson, was born in a farmhouse near Magnet, Nebraska Monday, April 27, 1936. He graduated from Magnet High School in a class of seven seniors in 1953. He attended Wayne State College, Norfolk Junior College, Cameron University and Eastern Wyoming College. He graduated from Texas Tech University at Lubbock, Texas 1963 with a bachelor's degree in Geology.
The first 18 years of his life were spent on a Nebraska farm. He ventured to the Texas Oil fields and was eventually drafted into the United States Army in 1958.
John and Mary Frances McAnally, of Pampa, Texas were married in 1959 and made homes in many areas of the nation as well as in Peru, South America before settling in Douglas, Wyoming in 1980.
He was proud of his contributions to the community of Douglas. Instrumental in engineering the Sheep Mountain Well, Ridgewater Homeowners Association Board, Ridgewater Home Improvement Board, and Converse County Library Board. He was always willing to share his expertise anyway he could.
He began a mining career in New Mexico underground uranium mines and later in various copper, lithium, phosphate, gold and coal mine operations.
In 1971, he was especially proud of being able to move his family to Toquepala, Peru, South America for nearly four years, while employed at the Southern Peru Copper Corporation in the Andes Mountains. The family has many pleasant memories of living in Peru. Not many would commit such a large family to life in an unfamiliar foreign environment.
Survivors include his children, Deborah Nelson of Douglas, Renee’ (Tom) Miller of Laramie, Wyoming, Doug (Michelle) Nelson of Kingsland, Georgia, and Randy of Wilmington, North Carolina; grandchildren, Travis (Jenny) Miller, Matthew (Jaden) Miller, Kacy Nelson, Reid (Anne) Nelson, Devin (Reem) Nelson, Garrett Nelson, and Jacob Nelson; great grandchildren, Grady Miller and Emmy Miller; and sister, Marilyn Arnold of David City, Nebraska.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, on December 11, 2020; parents Roy Nelson on October 31, 1968, and Ethel Nelson on November 16, 2004; brother, Stuart Nelson, on September 23, 2025; and daughter-in-law, Beth Nelson, in 2014.
The Gorman Funeral Homes-Converse Chapel of Douglas, Wyoming assisted with the arrangements.
Cemetery and Burial Information
Douglas Park Cemetery
501 South 9th St
Douglas, WY 82633
307-358-3047
