Obituary of Roger M Nelson

Roger M. Nelson of Verona, N.J. passed away peacefully at St. Barnabas

Hospital in Livingston on Wednesday April 18. A memorial service will be held at the Glen Ridge Congregational Church on Thursday April 26th at 11 a.m

Roger was born in 1935 in Saigon, French Indochina, and moved in 1940 to Glen Ridge where he lived most of his life. He graduated from Glen Ridge High School and was inducted into the Glen Ridge High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

While in Glen Ridge he served on the Board of Education and the Town Council. He was also President of the Local Assistance Board, President of the Council at the Glen Ridge Congregational Church, Chairman of the Republican Committee and a founding member of Freeman Gardens.

In Montclair he served on the Boards of Family and Children’s Services and Senior Care and Activities Center and was honored for his volunteerism by the American Red Cross.

He graduated from Wesleyan University and the Cornell Law School. His entire corporate career was spent at PSEG as General Attorney and General Manager of Corporate Properties. He later established a limited law practice, devoting most of his time pro bono for nonprofit organizations.

When Roger moved to Verona in 2003 he began his long involvement with the COPE Center, Inc. Board, where he served a term as President.

Roger was known for his booming laugh and outgoing personality. He loved sports, travel, history, old friends, new friends, and most of all his family. He leaves his loving wife of 55 years, Lila Farmer Nelson, his four daughters and sons-in-law, Caren and Tom Pennington, Eileen and Tom Lamb, Louise and David Hurley, andClaire and Tim Glackin, plus ten wonderful grandchildren, Tommy and Colin Pennington, Caroline, Shannon and Amy Lamb, Seamus, Declan and Cormac Hurley, and Devon and Spencer Glackin, and his sister-in-law Laverne Nelson. He was predeceased by his brothers, John and Wilmer Nelson.

In lieu of flowers, donations to COPE Center, Inc. 104 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07042 would be greatly appreciated.