Roll Call Tribute

Published in (Fort Worth) Star-Telegram on Dec. 20, 2016

Arthur Foster Nelson(1941 - 2016)
Arthur Foster Nelson, died peacefully Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, at home surrounded by his family. Graveside service: 3 p.m. Wednesday in Greenwood Memorial Park. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the Child Study Center, 1300 West Lancaster Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas 76102 (www.cscfw.org) Foster was born Dec. 14, 1941, to Sophia Belle Edelen and Paul Allen Nelson in Midland. At the age of four, he accompanied his parents when they moved from Midland to Brownwood. He graduated from Brownwood High School and received his BS in Accounting from Texas A&M University in 1963. He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant in Dallas and also worked in Sao Paulo, Brazil and New York City. He moved to Fort Worth in 1970 to join Transport Life Insurance where he eventually became Chief Financial Officer. After marrying Helen Jean Hefley in 1969 and having a daughter, Amanda, Helen passed away in 1973. He fell in love with and married Nancy Little Perry in 1975 and added two more beautiful daughters to their family, Adele and Perry. Foster possessed a quiet faith and enjoyed his volunteer roles as a board member of the Child Study Center and 5th grade Sunday school teacher at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. He retired at 55 and traveled the world with his bride and began spending part of the year in beautiful Carmel, Calif. He loved walking his first son, Jack, the golden retriever, along the beach path, playing golf, and enjoying sunsets on the roof deck at Belo Horizonte. Foster made friends wherever he went and nurtured those relationships over the years. He is a founding member, and "The Czar," of Club San Antonio in Carmel and a founding member of the Arlington Heights Cribbage Club in Fort Worth. In the last years of his life he displayed remarkable grace and humor following his 2014 diagnosis of ALS. He was a dedicated and beloved husband, father, colleague, mentor, and friend. The family extends their heartfelt thanks to Foster's wonderful caregivers Greg Anderson, Janetta Primus, Leslie Gordon, Maria Ramirez, and Maxine Torres; and also to those who kept him moving despite the circumstances, Hiromi Ozawa, Pam Heston, and Austin Guzman. His grounded outlook and infectious optimism may be best summed up by a quote from Jimmy Buffett he requested we include just days ago, "Some of it's magic, some of it's tragic, but I had a good life all the way.' Survivors: Loving wife of 41 years, Nan Perry Nelson; daughters, Amanda Ellis and husband, Brad, Adele Nelson and husband, Scott Campbell, and Perry Nelson; grandchildren, Foster, Logan, and Wesley Ellis and Arthur and Evelyn Campbell-Nelson; brother, Allen Nelson and wife, Betty; sister, Sue Gibson; numerous nieces and nephews; and his second son, Gus, the goldendoodle.