William “Bill” Arthur Nelson

(June 8, 1945 – October 28, 2022)

Bill was born in 1945 and raised on a farm in central Minnesota. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he completed his training in San Antonio and Wichita Falls, Texas and was then sent to Greenland where he worked at the Radar Site. Upon discharge, he was employed by a construction firm training/working as a heavy equipment mechanic. He completed several diesel engine technical schools. He was hired as a Service Manager and later promoted to Vice President and General Manager for a construction equipment sales and service company. In 1972 he relocated to Florida where he worked as a mobile/field diesel engine technician working on heavy equipment and yachts, commercial off-shore fishing vessels and tug boats, etc. In 1980, he decided to form his own corporation for mobile/field diesel engine work. Between that time and 1996, his business grew to 17 employees and represented eleven different manufacturers of engines and engine products, generators, and subsidiary products. He also owned a boat repair yard in South Florida overseeing eleven technicians/mechanics where a multiple of boat/yacht services were accomplished including painting, fiberglass repair, engine replacements and repairs/repowers, modifying gas-to-diesel engines, and boat/engine sales, etc. In 2006 he sold the boat yard and returned to his shop in Bradenton where he was the sole owner/operator of his own mobile marine repair company.
He always wanted to return to Texas, and it was in 2006 that he met his future wife, Sharon, who was a Texan by birth so he always said he had no trouble convincing her about living in Texas. He convinced her that she should retire and come work with him, which she did. A perfect couple and team who spent everyday together whether they were in Florida to work for three or four months or in Texas building a new house, baling hay or working on/repairing heavy equipment, tractors, etc. for folks in the area in Bill’s outbuilding/shop.
Bill loved helping others, and there wasn’t anything that Bill couldn’t fix. He was well-liked and well- respected by all who knew him.
He leaves behind his loving and dedicated wife, Sharon, who always called him her Special Angel, a truly amazing man whom she daily thanks the Good Lord for Bill and their wonderful life together. Other survivors include his stepson, Kevin Squires and his wife, Mandy and their sons, Hayden and Corbin; Jarrod Eason, his nephew, and his wife, Jerilyn and their sons, Alex, Dylan, and Connor; Richard Eason, his brother-in-law, and his wife, Billie, his cousin Billy Kuhne and his wife, Carolyn; his cousin Carol Bruder and her husband, Anthony; daughter, Kim Shepherd and her husband, Tom. Bill was predeceased by his mother, Lucy Betterman, his father, Arthur Nelson, his brother, Stanley Nelson, and his sister, Karen Noetzelman.