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W. Irvin ‘Irv’ Nelson of Newville sadly passed away on Sept. 4 at age 90.
Irv and Barb Nelson of Newville are pictured with their cake in honor of more than 65 years of faithful service to Zion Lutheran’s choir in this 2018 photo. Irv sadly passed away on Sept. 4 at age 90.
Irv Nelson, center, is pictured with sons Doug, left, and Ted, during Opening Day of Newville Little League last April. Irv, a longtime NLL coach and volunteer, threw the ceremonial first pitch to Doug and Ted, who also played for NLL when they were young.
Irv Nelson was honored as the Newville Fountain Festival’s parade marshal in this 2012 photo. He’s seen waving to the crowd while flashing his infectious smile.
W. Irvin ‘Irv’ Nelson of Newville sadly passed away on Sept. 4 at age 90.
Irv and Barb Nelson of Newville are pictured with their cake in honor of more than 65 years of faithful service to Zion Lutheran’s choir in this 2018 photo. Irv sadly passed away on Sept. 4 at age 90.
Irv Nelson, center, is pictured with sons Doug, left, and Ted, during Opening Day of Newville Little League last April. Irv, a longtime NLL coach and volunteer, threw the ceremonial first pitch to Doug and Ted, who also played for NLL when they were young.
Irv Nelson was honored as the Newville Fountain Festival’s parade marshal in this 2012 photo. He’s seen waving to the crowd while flashing his infectious smile.
Mr. Newville. The Mayor of Newville.
Irv Nelson will be remembered for a lot of things, most notably his devotion to his family, faith and community.
Nelson, a Newville native, sadly passed away at age 90 on Sept. 4. The Korean War Veteran and former Fickes Silo employee wore quite a number of hats within the town he called home, and will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.
He was born Nov. 14, 1931, in the Newville area, a son of Ira L. and Viola M. Forney Nelson. He is survived by his loving wife of nearly 70 years, Barbara E. Lehman Nelson, whom he married on Oct. 25, 1952.
Irv met Barb in high school. She recalled that he was a junior and she was a freshman. “I wasn’t really allowed to date him then because I was only 14,” she laughed. The two remained close for five years before they were married in their church, Zion Lutheran. They went on to raise five children – Deborah Rife (husband, Robert), Lisa Washinger (husband, Larry), Ted Nelson (wife, Vesna), Pam Stambaugh, and Douglas Nelson (wife, Stephanie). The couple also has eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
“We just had a wonderful life together. We were both in the church choir for over 60 years until the pandemic shut the church down. We were very active in the church and the community, especially him. We were in church every Sunday, as much as possible. We were active in church, and our children were active in church and the community, too. We’re community minded, and a lot of people knew Irv. They might not have known me, but they knew him.”
Barb said she is still shocked by the loss of Irv.
“It’s a lonely house right now,” she added. “We were very devoted to each other for almost 75 years.”
A Memorial Service for Irv will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, at Zion Lutheran Church, 51 W. Main St., Newville.
One of Irv’s memorable contributions to the Newville community was serving as a coach and volunteer for the Newville Little League. He coached from 1969 to 1974, and in April of 2021, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day to Doug and Ted, both former Newville Little League players.
As a joke, his sons brought out a giant sheet metal home plate – at least twice the size of a normal home plate – to ensure that Nelson’s first pitch would be a strike.
“I don’t think that I did very good. I hit the plate but that’s all,” Irv laughed at the 2021 game. “It was an honor. I think they have a good program here, and I try to support it as much as I can. It’s just an honor to be connected to them.”
“I guess I’m an instigator, just like him. I thought about that last Sunday and asked my brother-in-law to cut it out,” Doug said previously of the oversized home plate.
He continued, “It was an honor. We played ball here growing up. We have a lot of memories here, from announcing games to mowing the field, we did all that kind of stuff when we were around here. Mom was always in the concession stand and dad was always in the dugout. It was a good time, and it taught us a lot – how to respect each other no matter what the outcome.”
Barb, Rife and Stambaugh said if there was a sporting event taking place in Newville, chances are Irv was there somewhere.
“He also supported all of the high school sports – football, softball, baseball, everything. He had a senior pass to all the sporting events and when Irv Nelson showed up, you heard, ‘Oh! There’s Irv!’” Stambaugh laughed. “Everybody knew him, greeted him at the door and talked to him.”
His support of the Newville community didn’t stop there. He also sang in the choir, taught Sunday School, and served on the council of Zion Lutheran. He was treasurer of Neighbors In Christ; secretary and vice president of the Newville Lions Club; a member of the Cumberland County Redevelopment Authority (vice president); member of the Cumberland County Home Town Committee, the Alwein Association (president); the Big Spring Band Association (president); the Newville Historical Society; a Life member of the American Legion Post 421; the Green Ridge Auxiliary; a past director of Farmers National Bank and was secretary of the board; a former member of the Newville Cardinals Baseball Club; coached Little League, Senior Division, and American Legion Ball, and served as treasurer of the American Legion Post 421 Baseball team.
Irv also belonged to the Big Spring Senior Center, the Farm Bureau, was the co-chairman of the Big Spring Area Community Chest, a member of IOOF Lodge 562, a member of IOOF Encampment #34, and Friendship Hose Co. #1.
He was also a Bulldog Foundation Alumni Hall of Fame Honoree.
“Irv Nelson, or Mr. Newville, as I called him, was a genuine, kind, supportive soul. If it was happening in Newville, Irv was there. If Newville needed it, Irv was there,” Scott Penner, Newville Borough Council president, said. “On a personal note, I’ve known Irv my whole life. He worked with my dad at Fickes Silo, he coached me in Little League, and was always smiling when I saw him. Our prayers are with Barb and the whole Nelson family as they begin to celebrate Irv’s life.”
Councilwoman Joey Diehl added, “Irv Nelson was an outstanding Christian man. He loved his family, his church and the community of Newville. He was so involved in every aspect of Newville. He was involved with the Lions Club, baseball, the Community Chest, just so many things, and he always had a smile on his face. There are many fine men in our community, but Irv ranks at the top.”
Cathy Graver, director of the Big Spring Senior Center, noted, “Irv was a comical man at the Senior Center. He enjoyed contributing to our weekly Bible study class on Wednesdays. Irv and his wife, Barb, enjoyed coming to our breakfasts and ice cream get-togethers, and we will always remember seeing Irv across the street from the Senior Center mowing his lawn in his white outfit. Several times a week Irv would come into the Senior Center for our Grab ‘n Go Meals, along with his beautiful wicker basket to carry their meals back home. Irv will be missed here at the Senior Center for his good humor, friendship and beautiful smile.”
Jill Shuman of the senior center said, “Irv Nelson was one of my heroes. I lived down the street from him in Big Spring Heights, and grew up in his church family at Zion. What an example to all! He loved our LORD, his wife and children and our little community of Newville. It was a privilege to call him friend and he will be missed by all the folks his love has touched. This just proves that you don’t have to leave town to find a real hero.”
Borough Manager Fred Potzer added, “Irv Nelson was a very genuine man; he was a compassionate person who spent most of his life volunteering in service to his community and in helping the less fortunate. The fact that at one time or another Irv had served as the treasurer to nearly every organization in Newville is a testimony to his true character.”
While Irv will be remembered for his hand in the community, his family will remember him for his integrity, his love, his care, and, of course, his ornery nature.
“He was just awesome!” Rife said. “He was the most caring and dedicated father and husband; he was always there for us. I just wouldn’t want anyone else for a dad.”
Rife said his joking manner and contagious laughter will absolutely be missed.
“We would carry on all the time. I’d make fun of him, he’d make fun of me. We didn’t care! His biggest thing was, if we exaggerated, he would go, ‘OK! Time out!’” she laughed. “If you weren’t having fun with him, he’d think there was something wrong. He always enjoyed life to the fullest.”
On another note, Rife said Irv taught her to be a kind and good person, to do whatever she could for others and try to help anyone she can. The biggest thing he taught her and her siblings was to always stay true to their faith.
“He always taught us to be very responsible,” she added. “All of us had jobs and we have been very responsible and took care of them well. I always told my dad that I wanted to marry somebody like him. My husband, Bob, acts just like him! Either he taught him well over the years or he just came that way! I always say that he acts more like his son than me, his daughter!”
Stambaugh said her father was “the best man I’ve ever known.”
“He was the best father I could have ever had. It’s going to be difficult moving forward. I knew this was inevitable at some point. I’m just glad he didn’t suffer for very long because I didn’t want him to suffer for one minute,” she said, through tears.
Stambaugh said Irv taught all of the Nelson children an impeccable work ethic.
“Our mom was managing the homefront, and as soon as he would get home from work, he was off to coach Little League. Each one of us was diversified and had many different interests, and no matter what, he supported all of us and what we were involved in.”
Stambaugh said she’s not quite sure how Irv and Barb pulled it off with five children, but she said Barb was right there supporting Irv in everything he did.
“She is a rock,” she added. “If he was coaching, she was there working in the concession stand. She was there supporting him and us together! They are just the best!”
Stambaugh added that Irv supported every aspect of Newville that you can imagine.
“Newville was his baby,” she continued. “This is a loss to the community and to everyone that knew him.”
She said during his first pitch last year, he wore his original Cardinals jersey from when he played in Newville decades ago.
“It was so incredible to see him in that jersey!” she added.
Ted Nelson said Irv had integrity and always tried to instill it in his children.
“I don’t think there was anything he did in private that he wouldn’t do in public,” Ted said. “He had a firm belief in God and he never veered from that. When he talked to people, he knew them. He didn’t just know of them, he knew them because he was interested in them.”
Ted added Irv gave a lot of himself and never said a word about it. “He had a quiet walk, yet everybody knew him,” he noted. “He treated everybody fairly.”
Ted recalls Irv heading home for lunch from Fickes Silo, and taking time on his break to throw baseballs with him and Doug on the side of the barn before heading back into work.
“How many fathers do you know would do that?” he asked. “And he’d do it again at night when he coached Little League. The glove that we passed around with each other was his old glove. He would give that to me, and he would use his bare hands until he could afford another one. I put that glove in his casket with him.”
Ted also recalled Irv turning their old wash house into a small gym where he would play different sports with the Nelson children, their friends and local families.
“We played ping-pong, basketball. There was even an old mattress in there we used to wrestle on,” he laughed. “He did it because he loved us. He attempted to do everything possible with you that you wanted to do.”
Doug said you always got Irv at face value.
“His faith showed through by the way he lived his life,” Doug said.
One piece of advice that Irv gave them growing up was: “You gotta be a good loser to be a good winner.”
“He was an inspiration to a lot of the guys he coached, like a second dad to them,” Doug added. “I always told him if I can do 10 percent of what he’s done in his lifetime, it would be an accomplishment for me. I don’t know how he did it with five kids, working 5 ½ days a week, he never complained about anything really. He taught me to respect other people. He always said, ‘You can never outgive God.’ He tried, but he could never do it!”
Irv, a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, got to tour Fenway Park with Doug when he turned 80. Doug noted that one of Irv’s idols was Ted Williams, and Irv had the honor of sitting in the red seat in Section 42 of right field where Williams hit the longest homerun in Fenway Park history in 1946.
“Anywhere he went, he loved to watch baseball. He loved the Little League and high school games, and we’d go see the Harrisburg Senators a lot. He even played baseball for the Army in Korea.”
Doug added even with Irv and Barb’s busy schedule, they never missed a Sunday in church (barring illness), even if they went to a Baltimore Orioles doubleheader on a Saturday night and got home at 2 in the morning, they were up again on Sunday for church.
“If we went to a Sunday game, we stopped at my aunt’s church in York. Even if we were at the beach, we went to church. That was something that was always a constant in our family,” Doug said.
For the Nelson family, their patriarch was one who never shied away from trying something new, and always followed the Golden Rule.
“He always taught us to treat people the way we want to be treated, and that it comes back around,” Doug said.
Doug will deliver Irv’s eulogy on Saturday.
“I’ve been working on this for two weeks now. It’s been tough trying to fit all of those years into 15 minutes or so. But, he’s done so much for me over the years, I was honored to be able to do this for him.”
As for Barb, she feels Irv is up in Heaven, smiling down and waving at them all – and probably cracking a joke or two.
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