Milton James Nelson

Milton James Nelson, age 105, passed away quietly, Saturday, April 26, 2014 in his home from complications due to age.
He was born in a sharecropper, cotton plantation house in Blevins, Arkansas, on Oct. 4, 1908. His chores were to gather eggs, slop the pigs, hoe cotton, bring wood and water to the house and take a list to the store for his mom. He walked barefoot to the big brick schoolhouse in Blevins with his tin pail lunch.
When he was 10, his father passed away from the Spanish Flu. After he graduated from the Blevins School, he started working in the oil fields and taking college classes. He met a beautiful young student named Christine Stewart and after several years of dating, they married April 8, 1933 in Barnsdale, Oklahoma.
Milton continued working in the oil industry for Cities Service. After 15 years of marriage, his daughter Linda was born. He later moved with Cities Service to Lake Charles, Louisiana. In 1956, the family moved to Rosepine, Louisiana where he raised chickens and cattle while continuing to work for Cities Service. Milton became a member of the Masonic Order in 1946 and continued to be active in the Masons for the rest of his life.
Milton's wife Christine passed away in 1966. The next year he married his childhood friend, Ione Arrington, who had recently been widowed. He and Ione sold the farm and moved to Beaumont, Texas where he continued working for Cities Service until he retired at the age of 63 to a lake front home that he built on the Toledo Bend Reservoir. The next few years he and Ione lived happily visiting neighbors, fishing and helping to build a community church.
Ione passed away in April of 2001. Milton later moved to Idaho to be near his daughter and her 7 children, where he enjoyed many happy years doing errands with his son-in-law Doug, camping, fishing, cave exploring, growing tomatoes, riding his 4 wheeler, attending sporting and school events to watch his grandkids, and eating at the Bamboo Garden Chinese buffet. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at the age of 97, and was sealed to his wife Christine and his daughter Linda in the Idaho Falls Temple that same year. He enjoyed watching LDS conferences and visiting with his home teachers.
He is survived by his sister Pearl McCabe, of Lewes, Delaware; his nephew, Warren Fuller of Lewes, Delaware; his daughter, Linda Empey (Doug), of Chubbuck; Grandson Mike (Stephanie) Empey, American Fork, Utah; Granddaughter Kristin (Andrew) Wayment, Idaho Falls, Idaho; Granddaughter Katrina (Kelly) Averett, Idaho Falls, Idaho; Grandson Steve (Heather) Empey, Frisco, Texas; Granddaughter Kayla (Paul) Smith, Lehi, Utah; Granddaughter Kari (Jason) Symons, Lehi, Utah; Grandson David Empey, Pocatello, Idaho; 28 great grandchildren; and one great, great grandchild due in November. He is preceded in death by his parents, Walter Nelson and Hattie Cummings; a brother, Webb Nelson; his wives, Christine Stewart and Ione Arrington; and a great granddaughter, Lindy Wayment.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to Encompass Home Health and Hospice and caregivers Annabritt Richardson and Ariel Blair for their wonderful care, service and warmth.
Funeral services for Milton will be held at Wilks Funeral Home, 211 W. Chubbuck Road on Wednesday, April 30, at 11:00, with Bishop Kim Guymon conducting. Family will meet with friends and relatives from 10:00 until 10:45 at the funeral home before the service. Burial will follow at Mountain View Cemetery. Masonic Rites will be provided by his Brotherhood at Portneuf Masonic Lodge #18 of AF & AM at the cemetery.
Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.wilksfuneralhome.com.