Obituary for Nils F. Nelson
Nils F. Nelson of Wells, Maine was reunited with his wife of 50 years on May 20, 2023, after six long years apart. He passed peacefully at 79 years old with his daughters by his side. As a fun-loving soul, Nils kept his wife, friends, and family laughing over the years with his stories and playful pranks. If he started a sentence with “To keep a long story short,” you knew it would be anything but, and it would be better than any previous version he had ever told.
So, to make a long story short, Nils was born in Camden, New Jersey on October 4, 1943, to Nils A. Nelson and Dorothy (Hendershot) Nelson. He served in the U.S. Army in the First Air Cavalry Division with the 191st Military Intelligence Detachment. It was love at first sight when he met his future wife while stationed in Nashville, TN in 1966. After marrying in 1967, he served in Vietnam where Sergeant E-5 Nelson earned a Bronze Star.
After the Army, Nils excelled in the business world, working his way across the country in many large corporations before becoming widely known as the “Ad Guy” in Southern Maine when he opened his own marketing agency in Wells. Later, he and his wife launched Maine Public Records Services, where he occasionally got to live out his dream of being a private detective by doing research for law firms and private investigators across the U.S.
Outside of work, he was the life of every party, threw epic fire pit nights and organized wild champagne breakfasts. He loved a good joke and never missed an opportunity to publicly embarrass his friends, and especially his daughters and grandchildren, with his crazy antics. Finding a picture of him with a serious face is nearly impossible. He often loudly serenaded the house with his favorite Willie Nelson and Elvis songs while doing dishes. He loved a quiet day with his camera, a good baseball game, and fishing– enjoying any chance to land striped bass from the beach or big mouth bass from a quiet rowboat on the lake. To his Tennessee family, this Yankee city boy was an endless source of laughs as he attempted to learn all aspects of farming, from wrangling cows to tobacco harvests.
Above everything, Nils was known for his big heart. He opened his home to anyone who needed a place to crash and there isn’t a dog in Wells that got past him without getting a cookie or two. He was a loving father and grandfather, a wonderful friend, and a devoted husband. He and his wife shared a love story that can’t be matched. He will be greatly missed by his family, especially his four grandchildren, who were the center of his world.
Nils is predeceased by his parents, nephew Jamison Bagwell, and his beautiful wife, Donna (Bagwell) Nelson, who he missed greatly . He is survived by his brother Tom Nelson and sister-in-law Georgi of Saco, Maine; daughter Tiffany Nelson of Wells, Maine; daughter Cherilyn Wilson and her husband, Landon of Coppell, Texas; grandchildren Nick and Kenna Olsen of Wells, Maine, and Adelyn and Jase Wilson; brothers-in-law Dennis Bagwell and wife, Marilyn, Greg Bagwell and wife Linda of Clarksville, Tennessee, and Earl Bagwell and wife Barbara of Dover, Tennessee; nieces Abigail and Molly, and nephews, Jordan, Landon, and Shannon.
There will be no services at Nils’ request. Should you like to honor Nils’ memory, please consider a donation to your favorite charitable organization for Veterans or cancer research.
To share a memory or leave a message of condolence please visit ’s Book of Memories Page at www.bibberfuneral.com.
Arrangements are in the care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 111 Chapel Rd. Wells, ME 04090.
So, to make a long story short, Nils was born in Camden, New Jersey on October 4, 1943, to Nils A. Nelson and Dorothy (Hendershot) Nelson. He served in the U.S. Army in the First Air Cavalry Division with the 191st Military Intelligence Detachment. It was love at first sight when he met his future wife while stationed in Nashville, TN in 1966. After marrying in 1967, he served in Vietnam where Sergeant E-5 Nelson earned a Bronze Star.
After the Army, Nils excelled in the business world, working his way across the country in many large corporations before becoming widely known as the “Ad Guy” in Southern Maine when he opened his own marketing agency in Wells. Later, he and his wife launched Maine Public Records Services, where he occasionally got to live out his dream of being a private detective by doing research for law firms and private investigators across the U.S.
Outside of work, he was the life of every party, threw epic fire pit nights and organized wild champagne breakfasts. He loved a good joke and never missed an opportunity to publicly embarrass his friends, and especially his daughters and grandchildren, with his crazy antics. Finding a picture of him with a serious face is nearly impossible. He often loudly serenaded the house with his favorite Willie Nelson and Elvis songs while doing dishes. He loved a quiet day with his camera, a good baseball game, and fishing– enjoying any chance to land striped bass from the beach or big mouth bass from a quiet rowboat on the lake. To his Tennessee family, this Yankee city boy was an endless source of laughs as he attempted to learn all aspects of farming, from wrangling cows to tobacco harvests.
Above everything, Nils was known for his big heart. He opened his home to anyone who needed a place to crash and there isn’t a dog in Wells that got past him without getting a cookie or two. He was a loving father and grandfather, a wonderful friend, and a devoted husband. He and his wife shared a love story that can’t be matched. He will be greatly missed by his family, especially his four grandchildren, who were the center of his world.
Nils is predeceased by his parents, nephew Jamison Bagwell, and his beautiful wife, Donna (Bagwell) Nelson, who he missed greatly . He is survived by his brother Tom Nelson and sister-in-law Georgi of Saco, Maine; daughter Tiffany Nelson of Wells, Maine; daughter Cherilyn Wilson and her husband, Landon of Coppell, Texas; grandchildren Nick and Kenna Olsen of Wells, Maine, and Adelyn and Jase Wilson; brothers-in-law Dennis Bagwell and wife, Marilyn, Greg Bagwell and wife Linda of Clarksville, Tennessee, and Earl Bagwell and wife Barbara of Dover, Tennessee; nieces Abigail and Molly, and nephews, Jordan, Landon, and Shannon.
There will be no services at Nils’ request. Should you like to honor Nils’ memory, please consider a donation to your favorite charitable organization for Veterans or cancer research.
To share a memory or leave a message of condolence please visit ’s Book of Memories Page at www.bibberfuneral.com.
Arrangements are in the care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 111 Chapel Rd. Wells, ME 04090.