William Howells Nelson's Obituary
William Howells Nelson, age 89, of San Mateo, California died on January 14, 2017 after a period of declining health.He was born July 18, 1927 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to William Elmer Nelson and Evelyn Hurley Howells Nelson. His siblings were Leone Woodard, Nancy Froning, Carole Glanville, Irene Kilgore, Janet Draeger, and John Nelson.He attended Salt Lake City South High School graduating in 1945. He served in the U. S. Navy from 1945 to 1949 as an Aviation Machinist’s Mate Second Class. He attended University of Utah graduating in 1954 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Architecture. On September 16, 1950 he married Louise Ann Jacobs of Lindsey, California.He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Waterloo Ward, Wells Stake in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Crystal Springs 2nd Ward, San Mateo Stake in San Mateo, California.He was a licensed architect for 35 years (1957 to 1992) in the State of Utah and State of California. He started out working in Utah with his father in private practice. Most of his career was working for John Blume/URS in San Francisco, California as an Architectural Project Manager.He worked on many well-known projects such as building the Travis AFB corrosion control facility near Sacramento, CA; USGS projects to test and evaluate explosion hazards on structures in Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii; building the NASA wind tunnel structure at Moffett Field, CA; restoration of the Island of Guam port facility; building upgrades at the Top Gun Flight Training facility in Fallon, NV; and the restoration of the historic buildings at Beringer Brothers Winery in St. Helena, CA.William is survived by his wife of 66 years, Louise Jacobs Nelson, and six children, Don Nelson (Jane), Adrienne Perreault (Pierre), Marc Nelson (Kathleen), Brad Nelson (Sharon), Craig Nelson (Diana) and Corinne Perry (Denis). He has 16 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.He enjoyed playing golf, tennis and running track. In his quiet moments he painted in oils, watercolors and acrylics. He raised fancy pigeons and doves and studied their genetics and breeding.William was a loving husband, an adoring father, grandfather and great grandfather. A Celebration of His Life will be held February 24, 2017 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Lifemark Center Vista Room at Skylawn Memorial Park, located at Hwy 92 and Skyline Blvd. in San Mateo, California.In lieu of flowers, please donate funds to a charity of your choice.
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