Bob Nelson - remembering a man who would do anything for you
I can't recall the first time I met Bob Nelson -it's been too many years.
But I can recall the first time I saw Bob coach a Little League Baseball game. It was in 1979 when I worked for another local newspaper and I was sent out to cover the Elgin National Little League All-Stars, a team that won the Illinois state championship that summer.
I traveled with Bob and his team that summer to Ames, Iowa for the Central States Regional. And for the past 30-plus years I've been proud to call Bob Nelson my friend.
Nelson passed away May 25 at the age of 72 from heart failure. His passing came as quite a shock as I had seen him just a week or so prior to his death, having lunch with his wife Pat at Hoopers, like they did so often.
In friends' deaths we reflect, and my reflections of Bob Nelson are nothing but positive.
What Nelson had more than anything was passion. He was a knowledgeable baseball man, yes, but what he did more than anything was make his players want to succeed.
"He certainly was a role model and a father figure to all of us," said Jim Limberis, who played for Nelson on the 1982 Elgin Teener Babe Ruth League World Series championship team before eventually becoming a part of the Nelson family when his sister, Magda, married Bob's son, Dr. William Nelson.
"He will be missed, that's for sure."
You had to know Bob to know that it's appropriate that there won't be any lavish funeral services. Instead, an open house party to celebrate Bob's life will be held at Hoopers Sports Bar on North McLean Boulevard in Elgin on Thursday from 5-9 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Provena St. Joseph Cardiac Care Unit.
Nelson celebrated his 70th birthday on the same Sunday in 2007 that the World Series champs got together for a 25-year reunion. We did a story on that team and the one thing that struck me in doing those interviews was what great respect those former players still had for the summer coach of 25 years ago.
"He was one of the most competitive people I ever knew," said Limberis, who lives in Sleepy Hollow. "He got you to do the best you could do. He expected a lot but he also made you believe in yourself like no one else could."
Nelson, who also coached the Elgin American Legion Post 57 baseball team for several years, could be gruff at times. He'd get on umpires with the best of them and his players always knew they couldn't make a mistake without hearing about it from their coach. But everything he did had meaning to it.
"He had a knack of saying things that were a little out of the ordinary but they made you stop and think and they always had a purpose," said Limberis. "He could be a little ornery at times but when you sat back and thought about what he was saying, it made a lot of sense."
As a coach, Nelson knew how to motivate his players with the best of them.
"When we needed to get fired up he fired us up," Limberis said. "And when we needed to calm down and chill out, he knew how to bring some levity to the situation."
Another thing I'll always remember about Bob is that he was a proud proud family man. Son Billy (as I remember him) became a doctor, son David (who played for me on an all-star team that won a championship) is a Chicago attorney who lives in Hinsdale, and daughter Edie is an elementary schoolteacher in Huntley. Educated at Stanford and a former Marine who was vice president of BBK and System Sensor, companies that designed fire protection equipment, Bob and Pat had 13 grandchildren. He grew up in Lansing, Ill., and came to Elgin in 1970. And he loved Pat as much as I've ever known a man to love his wife. They were married for over 47 years.
"As a man he was a strong fiery guy who would do anything for you," said Limberis. "Over the past 3-4 years I've lost both my parents and he's been there for me.
"He was a special man."
That he was. And the world is without one of the best guys I've ever known and one I proudly called my friend for many years.
Goodbye friend. We will all miss you.