Jesse R. Nelson was born June 25, 1996 to Todd Nelson and Renell Belts.

He was raised and educated in Williston, ND and graduated from Williston High School in 2014. In high school he was active in music under the direction of Eric and Katie Rooke, whose talents he admired very much. In Band – Trombone; Chorale Choir; Pop Concert; Jazz Concert and in the Wizard of Oz play. He took up the drums on his own at home and sounded good… very loudly! He went to International Music Camp for 8 years with his guitars. He worked there after graduation setting up stages and sound. With some of the alumni working there they would have very fun impromptu jams. The love of music started very early and was still ongoing. He could always find someone to play guitar with and a guitar was always within reach. He went to many concerts of his favorites; Alan Jackson, George Strait etc.

Jess loved to travel and he got his CDL license through Williston College and hoped to use it to see more of the states. His travels got him to the top of the Empire State Building, the 9/11 Memorial, the Statue of Liberty; 2 shows on Broadway and a walk on Brooklyn Bridge; a helicopter ride to the bottom of the Grand Canyon; a hot air balloon ride in Arizona; a Phoenix Suns game; went through “old” Gold Mining Caves; went to Disneyland and a Lakers game under Coach Phil Jackson. He met and visited with “Sully” Sullenberger at the Seattle Flight Museum. Jesse told him about his love of flying. “Sully” was very nice to him! He also had lunch at the top of the Space Needle and on to the Boeing Museum at Paine Field in Everett. Jess was fascinated because his Uncle Jerome was a designing engineer for Boeing 40 plus years.

After many trips to Minnesota Jess decided he loved it there. He loved to feed swarms of sunfish on the dock in Detroit Lakes. The pontoons and jet skis were good too!
He’d been exploring the Twin Cities. He had a fun job working at the Mall of America for Old Navy and liked sales.

He started EMT classes and then questioned his ability to deal with tragedies. Recently he thought he would try again. Living in Winona he worked for a Light Fixture Factory in the summer of 2019. He was now working for UPS and liked it very well.

Jess had an amazing memory and was intelligent, thoughtful and considerate. His life was too short and his heart so kind.

Jess is survived by his father, Todd (Steph) Nelson; mother, Renell Belts; grandparents, Joe and Orlene Bowling, Joe McGillis and Stan and Nina Grev; siblings, Chrystin, Lacie, Levi, Courtney Jasmine, Charles “Bud” and Hannah; numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and many nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his grandfather, Randy Nelson, maternal and paternal great grandparents.