David V Nelson

David V. Nelson [1/13/1958-6/16/2022]. David was born in Syracuse NY where he spent most of his life. He was predeceased by his beloved mother, Mary E. Nelson and father, Marshal Nelson. David is survived by his wife of 35 years, Ruth G. McEvoy; his longtime friend and mother of his children, Sally Brown; his son, Dr. Joshua Nelson and Josh's wife, Dr. Elisha Nelson, grandchildren Cooper and Lily; his daughter, Tara Nelson, grandchildren Gregory, Draco and Kylah; stepson, William Davies, grandchildren Bradley and Tyler; stepdaughter, Debra Davies, grandchildren Stephanie, Justin, Isaac and Lanasha as well as eleven great grandchildren. David is also survived by his sister, Dawn [Jerry] Patterson, niece, Mia; sister, Karen Jones, niece, Nia; brother Jay [Adalia] Nelson.

David attended Our Lady of Solace and Christian Brothers Academy. In 1993, he completed a 4-year apprenticeship and became a NYS certified Millwright. During his apprenticeship he was sent to learn his trade at Zerox, Kodak, Budweiser, Nine Mile Point Power plant, McIntyre Paper and other places all over New York State and Pennsylvania. Upon receiving his certification as a Millwright, he took a job at Alcoa in Massena, NY for over 2 years. He fell in love with the area and considered living there permanently but missed his family and friends in Syracuse. He returned home and took a position with Chrysler at New Venture Gear until he retired when the plant closed. David was a staunch union man belonging to the Millwright, Piledriver and Diver 's Union, UAW and North Atlantic States Carpenter's Union.

David was an avid reader with a most remarkable memory. His preferred genre was Science Fiction but he also had a passion for history. Among his many hobbies were muscle cars of which he was the proud owner of a 1993 Pontiac Firehawk [#68 of only 200 to come off the assembly line in that year], cooking and especially baking goodies for his family and neighbors, a serious audiophile, belonging to the groups Vintage Audio, Analog Sound and The Other Record Collector's Club. Other groups he belonged to were; Our Lady of Solace, Syracuse, NY, Jewish Community of the 15th Ward, Syracuse, NY and Northeastern Rails and Canals, present and past.  Probably his two favorite groups were Reflections on the History of Syracuse, NY and Onondaga County and Nostalgic Syracuse. He spent many hours a day "diving down the rabbit hole" in his historic research. And last but certainly not least was his love of all creatures; furry, scaly, slithery or creepy crawly but especially the 10 cats who allowed him to share their home.

Per his wishes, there will be no funeral or calling hours. He wanted to be cremated and his ashes mixed with half the ashes of all his pets that passed before him and placed in a childhood cookie jar of a chicken that his Mom gave him, complete with blue tam with a pink pompom and pink jacket.

Should anyone be so inclined, a donation may be made in his name to one of the following;

The Elephant Sanctuary

PO Box 393

Hohenwald, TN 38462

telephone # 931-796-6500

CNY Cat Coalition, Inc.

PO Box 6182

Syracuse, NY 13217

telephone # 315-289-7729

Rescue Mission

155 Gifford St.

Syracuse, NY 13202

telephone # 315-472-6251

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