Arthur L. Nelson, 96, passed away on Friday, Jan. 27, 2017. A longtime resident of Amelia Island, he was born Aug. 21, 1920, in Sycamore, Ga. He graduated from Russell High School in East Point, Ga., and attended North Georgia College before World War II began.
In February 1942, he joined the U.S. Navy and was stationed at the Navy Yard in Charleston, S.C., as a musician in the Navy band. In 1944, he shipped out on board the battleship USS New York, which participated in the bombardment of Iwo Jima and the pre-invasion shelling of Okinawa, a bombardment that continued night and day for seven consecutive days as a prelude to Operation Iceberg, the bloodiest battle of the Pacific war.
After World War II, he met and married his wife, Penny Cartwright, in Atlanta, and they were married for 51 years. He worked for Delta Air Lines, Law Engineering Co. and, later, joined his wife to form Nelson Realty company, with a final total of 11 residential offices on the Northside of Atlanta. After 25 years, the company was sold in 1982, and he and his wife moved to Amelia Island Plantation, where they lived until she passed away.
He and his wife were charter members of Cherokee Town and Country Club. He was a member of Buckhead Kiwanis Club and Wieuca Road Baptist Church, and later he was to become a member of First Baptist Church of Jonesboro, Ga.
After his wife's death in 1997, he moved to St. Simons, Ga., and being an avid golfer, became a starter at the Oak Grove Island Golf course in Brunswick, Ga., for several years. Later, he moved back to Amelia Island to be close to his son Craig and daughter-in-law Judy.
In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by a son, Reid Lewis Nelson.
He is survived by two sons, Craig Nelson of Amelia Island and Kirk W. Nelson of Virginia Beach, Va.; a niece, Betty Ann Davis and her husband, Dan; a nephew, Harry Nelson Edmondson; grandsons, Tristram and Ian Nelson of Denver; and a dear friend from World War II days, Dorothy Hahn of Jonesboro.
Graveside services will be held at Arlington Memorial Cemetery in Sandy Springs, Ga., on a date yet to be determined in March.
Eternity Funeral Homes & Cremations – Nassau