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In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
NELSON, Meredith Osler (MO) - passed away on Friday, October 1, 2021 in the Hospice at St. Joseph's Hospital in Thunder Bay with loving family at his side.
He was born in Wetaskiwin, Alberta on July 23, 1921 and at the age of 6, his family moved to what is now West Lincoln in the Niagara Peninsula. He was descended from pioneers who came to British North America in the early 1600's and to Lincoln County in Ontario in the late 1700's. MO grew up on a farm in Lincoln County and always had a keen interest in crops and animals and never forgot social lessons from the great depression of the 1930's.
In Smithville High School MO met the love of his life when he was 17 and Shirley Shrum was 15. Shirley went on to nursing and he went to the General Motors Co-op Engineering Program (now Kettering University) and earned a degree in Industrial Engineering. His education was interrupted by time served in the Royal Canadian Navy as an Ordnance Artificer and while in the Navy, he and Shirley got married.
In 1950, MO began working for Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Throughout his 35-year career, MO worked in a pulp mill in Terrace Bay, ON and then in Consumer Product mills in Neenah, Wisconsin, Niagara Falls, St. Hyacinth, PQ, Toronto, Paris, France, Kent, England, Appleton, Wisconsin and then to the newsprint company, Spruce Falls Power and Paper in Kapuskasing where he was President and CEO. While at Kapuskasing he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association and Chair of the Board of the Ontario Forest Industries Association. He was sent again to Terrace Bay to rebuild the mill after a disastrous fire and was made president of Kimberly-Clark Canada and then to Coosa Pines Alabama where he was Group President of Newsprint, Pulp and Forest Products North America. The group consisted of the total business of pulp and paper mills, lumber mills and forestry in the United States and Canada with 6000 personnel.
He was passionate about the safety, welfare, involvement and dignity of the company employees. While in St. Hyacinth he won the prestigious Bolton Award Essay Contest with an essay titled “What is Good Management?” by showing how everyone contributes to the success of an organization. MO went to work early to make the coffee, abolished special parking, and everyone was on a first name basis. Under his leadership, he established worker safety committees and mill and woodland accidents were drastically reduced.
Shirley and MO retired to Thunder Bay in late 1984 where, like all their previous moves, they built friendships and became a part of the community. They also enjoyed several years at their condo at Clearwater Beach. True to their adventurous spirits, they travelled on world-wide cruises and tours. One of the best parts of living in Thunder Bay was to be able to settle down and enjoy their family in Thunder Bay, Ottawa, and Vancouver. He loved fishing with his family and taught us much about nature and the great outdoors. He went fly-fishing in Iceland, Newfoundland, and northern Ontario. MO wrote an autobiography titled: Make Ready, Do, and Put Away.
Early in retirement, MO was a Director of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the Rotary Club of Port Arthur, where he was a Paul Harris Fellow and a member of Branch 5, Royal Canadian Legion where he was Service Officer, helping Veterans attain benefits and did Legion Memorial Services. He was on the Executive of the Thunder Bay Naval Association and the Naval Officers' Association. In 2006, the Shirley H. and Meredith O. Nelson Fund was started through the Thunder Bay Community Foundation. In 2012, he received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for 25+ years' service as a Legion and Naval Service Officer.
MO was a devout man of faith and an ecumenical Christian as he worshipped in United, Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian churches throughout the many moves. In Thunder Bay, he was a member of both St. Paul's United Church and St. Paul's Anglican Church. At St. Paul's United, he particularly enjoyed the Fellowship Club and for many years, he was Chair of the Board of Trustees as well as a representative to Presbytery.
He loved summer and spent a lot of it at the Kraft Cottage on One Island Lake where he reveled in family companionship, boating, and fishing. Even when he turned 100, he still took his great-grandchildren out fishing on his Boston Whaler. He enjoyed Tuesday coffee at Arbys where affairs of the world were discussed, and coffee in the Towers Club at Waverley Park Towers. “MO, do you want to come on a trip?” Sure – MO was game for anything and in his later years travelled extensively with family from Hawaii to Finland. During his 100th year, MO was still driving his own car, debating global issues on the family's WhatsApp, reading historical fiction on his Kindle and sending his grandchildren handwritten birthday cards.
MO was predeceased by his beloved Shirley Hope in 2007 with whom he was married for 62 years; his granddaughter, Julia Nelson in 2013; his daughter-in-law, Penny Nelson, in 2015; his parents, Marcus and Jane Nelson and his brothers and their spouses, Richard and Christina Nelson, and Francis 'Spike' and Barbara Nelson.
He will be forever remembered and greatly missed by his 3 children Rob (Joanne) of Ottawa, Paul (Pauline) of Vancouver, and Deborah (Jouni) Kraft of Thunder Bay; his 9 grandchildren, Meredith (Keith), Gregor (Alexia), Gordon (Mathieu), Martha (Tom), Tristane (Greg), John (Carrie), Paul (Crystal), Laura (Jan) and Thomas (Riitta); and, his 21 great-grandchildren, William, Patrick, Charlotte, Amelie, Julian, Audrey, Tessie, Isaac, Julia, James, Luke, Grace, William, Clara, Daphne, Marcus, Scarlett, Aleksander, Elli, Eevi and Oliver. We will always treasure the many lessons he lived.
Our 100-year-old Family Patriarch leaves a huge legacy of service, commitment, faith, and generosity. He seized each day with adventure and taught us how to love with loyalty.
Funeral services for the late Mr. Meredith Nelson will be held on Monday, November 8, 2021 at 11:00am in St. Paul's United Church (349 Waverley Street), presided by Rev. Robert Smith. Interment will follow in Lappe Cemetery. Visitation for family and friends will be held on Sunday, November 7, 2021 in the Everest Funeral Chapel, 299 Waverley Street at Algoma from 2:00pm until 4:00pm with Prayers led by Deborah at 3:30pm. For those unable to attend, the services will be livestreamed and available at trinityunited.church/livestream.
As directed by the Province of Ontario and the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, proof of double vaccination and valid identification is required to attend. COVID-19 protective measures are still being applied in group settings. Masks or face coverings are required all for those attending the service.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
If you wish to make a donation in MO's memory, you might consider a donation to the Shirley H. and Meredith O. Nelson Fund (Thunder Bay Community Foundation), St. Paul's United Church or St. Paul's Anglican Church. (Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal 06 Nov 2021)
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