Obituary of Laurence Jesse Nelson

Laurence Jesse Nelson, age 90 of North St. Paul, Minnesota, passed away on Wednesday, May 30, 2018 surrounded by his loving family.

Visitation will be held at Anderson Funeral Home, 1401 Arcade Street (Hwy 61), Saint Paul, Minnesota on Sunday, June 3, 2018 from 2:00-5:00PM. The funeral service will be held at First Covenant Church, 1280 Arcade Street, Saint Paul, Minnesota on Monday, June 4, 2018 at 10:00AM with visitation one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery in Ida Township near Garfield, Minnesota.

Laurence was born in Oakland, Nebraska on May 30, 1928, to John Peter Magnus Nelson and Laura Nelson.  He graduated, Oakland High School in 1945.

Laurence had an agricultural deferment from the military to stay on the farm.  He was drafted into the army in 1951 and served in Korea for two winters.  He returned home and married Allegra Anderson, August 8, 1953.  After they were married, Laurence attended the U of M on the GI bill, and graduated with B.A., 1956.

Laurence and Allegra lived in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center; they started their family and Laurence worked for Dun and Bradstreet.  In 1964 they moved to Little Falls and spent 29 years there.  Laurence worked as a sales rep for Allis Chalmers and travelled much of Minnesota and the Dakotas.  In the 70’s he co-owned and operated 122 Motors, a GMC dealership, Little Falls.  In the 80’s Laurence was a sales rep for Belarus, a Russian farm tractor company.  They moved to Buffalo in 1983 and he worked for Jacobson Machine Works, retiring in 1993.

Laurence was very active in the Covenant Church.  He served on many church committees and boards, including terms as church chair at Fridley Covenant, Little Falls Covenant, and Buffalo Covenant.  He also served on the board of Minnehaha Academy.  He was active in missions and went on several mission trips.

Laurence was well read and kept up on current and world events.  He was a mentor to many people.  For most of his life, he was a “big kid”; he liked to play ball with kids, big and small.  The Minnesota Twins were his team!

Laurence was preceded in death by his wife, Allegra in 2016. Laurence is survived by his daughter, Virginia (Charles) Fenrick of Maplewood, MN; sons, Gregory (Janet) Nelson of Minneapolis, MN, Michael (Janet) Nelson of Coppell, TX, Clayton (Susan) Nelson of Madison, WI; six grandchildren, Emily Nelson, Mallory (Erik) Nelson-Rehder, Caleb Nelson, Liam Nelson, Sean Nelson, and Alex Nelson.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Covenant Kids Congo or Lions Gift of Sight.