William Oliver Nelson (Bill)

William Oliver Nelson (Bill) passed away peacefully on the morning of August 21, 2026, his hand held by his loving wife, Burnadell, and surrounded by their children in the family home.

Bill was born on April 9, 1934, in Portland, Oregon, to George William Nelson and Olive Adele Johnson in the middle of the Great Depression. He was the eldest of four brothers—Ray, John, and David.

Although the first ten years of his life included the Depression and World War II, Bill told stories that were funny and optimistic. He recounted burning down the only tree in the family’s backyard with bottle rockets and running away from home after seeing Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in “Hungry Hobos.” Weekends were spent working on his grandparents’ farm at Jennings Lodge, where he connected to the tradition of Sunday dinner with extended family. He always had a smile when he shared memories from his youth. Those early hardships he saw began to shape values that guided his life: perseverance, responsibility, hard work, and thriftiness.

Bill spent his childhood on NE 38th Avenue in Portland, where he attended Trinity School, a parochial private school, and later graduated from Jefferson High School in 1952. His family actively attended Augustana Church, where Bill attended liturgy and began his lifelong quest to understand the meaning of life and God. He often expressed humility and gratitude for the sacrifice his parents made to send him and his brothers to private school. It was during these years that he developed discipline, respect for teachers, and a deep love for Jesus Christ through his studies in the New Testament.

Throughout his youth and into high school, Bill loved baseball. He played shortstop through high school and switched to second base in college. He studied economics at Willamette University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science. His education was supported by a baseball scholarship. During his four years at Willamette, he joined the Delta Zeta chapter of Sigma Chi, ran a comedy radio station on campus, and drove a school bus for the Salem, Oregon Public School District to earn extra money.

College was a time of expansion and excitement, but mostly of searching for meaning and for God. Bill later described those years as a “period of inner turmoil.” Thanks to Willamette’s diverse student body, he engaged with practicing students of eastern philosophies and world religions.

Bill’s first encounter with a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came while he was playing semi-pro baseball in Oregon. During the day he worked in the sawmills alongside a group of BYU football players who would come to his games in the evening. One of those players told Bill he was marrying a girl from Bill’s hometown, Portland, and that they would be married in a temple in Salt Lake City for eternity. The idea of eternal marriage sparked his interest in investigating a restored gospel. That summer Bill read The Book of Mormon and A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, and he

engaged in sincere prayer. The concepts were entirely new to him—a living prophet, eternal marriage, a restoration, and a second testimony of Jesus Christ – The Book of Mormon. In the end he determined there was only one question that mattered: “Was Joseph Smith a true prophet who restored the Church of Jesus Christ in this modern era?” He asked simply, and the answer came, “God gave me a distinct answer.”

When Bill returned for his senior year at Willamette, he located an LDS chapel in Salem and requested baptism. After meeting with the missionaries, he was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on October 5, 1955. Within a year he was called to serve in the Central States Mission, proselytizing in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. He extended his mission beyond the usual two years to help develop a new missionary teaching plan. Even though he loved baseball, Bill waived signing a letter of intent with the Cleveland Indians to pursue the new values of faith, leadership, altruism, and resilience that now help guide his decisions.

Upon returning from his mission, Bill enlisted in the Army Reserve as a private first class to fulfill his military obligation. He served as assistant chaplain at Fort Ord near Monterey, California.

He moved back to Portland, where he met a beautiful, tall brunette named Burnadell Shurtliff. Because of her unusual name, Bill repeated “Burn your Shirt” to remember her name. He was smitten the moment he saw her at a church activity. Soon after they began dating, he told her, “I’m dating you with eternal implications.” They quickly lit a flame, and within a year Bill and Burnadell were married and sealed by Ezra Taft Benson in the Salt Lake Temple on April 19, 1961. Bill often told his children, “The most significant decision in my life was marriage to your beautiful mother, Burnadell.” He lived up to the pronouncement in the way he treated Burnadell from the time they met, to the end of his life. Marriage to Burnadell taught Bill the values of love, sacrifice, friendship, and how to be gentle and caring.

Shortly after their wedding the adventures began. Bill was recruited by the Church Education System to leave Portland and teach seminary in Carbon County, Utah. He and Burnadell made their first home in Price and welcomed their firstborn in 1962. It was there that they began their lifelong quest for growth, family, and gratitude. In three short years they grew from a family of two to a family of four.

In 1964 they left Price so Bill could serve as an assistant director of the Institute at the University of Idaho, in Moscow. At age thirty he was stepping into a new college setting, pursuing a master’s degree in psychology and counseling, serving as a bishop, and expecting their third child. During those years he developed the virtues of service, stewardship, and adventure as both his family and his responsibilities expanded.

By 1969 Bill and Burnadell left Idaho with their now five children—and one on the way—to pursue a doctorate in education at Brigham Young University. That’s where their sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth children were born. With every move they made deep and lasting friendships. The virtues Bill developed over a lifetime created quiet trust with

friends, colleagues, church members, and neighbors. The seeds of a good man were planted in every relationship.

Professionally, Bill served with the Church Educational System from 1961 to 1974, then moved to the Melchizedek Priesthood Department in 1975. When President Ezra Taft Benson became President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he appointed Bill as his administrative assistant—a position Bill held for fourteen years. In 1989 Bill was appointed Director of Correlation. He retired from Church employment in 2001 after forty-one years of faithful service.

Bill served in the Church as a missionary, bishop, stake president, regional representative, stake patriarch, and temple sealer. Together, Bill and Burnadell served a mission in New Jersey, where they taught institute classes to students at Rutgers University, Princeton University, and Middlesex College and volunteered with the young single adult programs.

Bill had a great sense of humor and a quiet love of simple pleasures—chocolate, landscaping, woodworking, and the patient work of family history. He was, by his own admission, only “good enough” at fishing. But above all, his three greatest loves remained Burnadell, his family, and baseball… in that order.

Bill and Burnadell are the parents of nine children, forty-six grandchildren, and forty-seven great-grandchildren. Bill’s greatest joy was time spent with his dear wife and the family they created together. Together they camped, road tripped, fished, and spent time on the Oregon beach and in Island Park, ID.

Bill is survived by his wife, Burnadell; children Tearsa (Brent) Daines, Daniel (Mary) Nelson, Kirstin (Danny) Hansen, Rachelle (Kevin) Pebley, Annika (Mark) Cook, Joseph (Dora) Nelson, Joshua (Camille) Nelson, and Jonathon (McCall) Nelson; brother David (Monica) Nelson; and his forty-six grandchildren and forty-six great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, George and Olive Nelson; brothers Ray and John (Connie) Nelson, and Ray’s wife Geri; son Michael Nelson; and great-grandson Ledger J. Hansen.

A viewing will be held on Friday, August 28, 2026, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 270 North 300 East, Centerville, Utah 84014. A second viewing will take place on Saturday, August 29, 2026, from 9:30–10:30 a.m. at the same location, followed by the funeral service at 11:00 a.m.

Interment will be at Centerville City Cemetery.

The funeral will be streamed live on the Russon Mortuary & Crematory YouTube Channel and on this obituary below.

The Nelson family expresses deep appreciation for the care Bill received from Talmage Nelson; A+ Hospice Care (Julie Brady and Alexis Larsen); and Helena’s Angels (Lyla Mausia, Lini Mausia, and Annie Mausia).