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As a boy in the 1950s, Bill Nelson grew up on the same block as his church.

There, he regularly helped with sacred services such as weddings and funerals. But the funerals, in particular, made a deep impression on him that has lasted until this very day.

Reflecting on the many emotions he himself experienced and observed in others, Bill recalled, “I just always felt that more needed to be done to help those families cope with death.”

Even at a young age, Bill knew he could do better. Those families deserved better, he thought.

“I realized what a difficult time it is to lose a loved one, and what people needed most was empathy. I felt I had that,” Bill said.

“I thought, ‘I could be the one to help them through that difficult time,’” he said.

Intent on helping others, he decided to pursue formal education as a funeral director and went on to graduate from the Simmons Institute of Funeral Service in Syracuse, NY, in 1964. This would mark the beginning of a lifelong humanitarian career of service spanning nearly 50 years.

After graduation, Bill served his almost two-year residency in Rochester, NY. He was drafted into the Army, attended U.S. Army Mortuary School, and was deployed to South Vietnam. There, he was assigned to one of six collection points from 1967 to 1968.

His military service was formative.

“The year I served in Vietnam, we processed more than 1,200 dead Americans,” Bill recalled.

“We were responsible for collecting their personal effects and shipping them back home to their families in the United States.”

Although difficult, he knew it was meaningful work, and he recognized the deep importance of his service. But when he returned home from Vietnam, he questioned whether or not he wanted to pursue a career in funeral service.

“I had seen enough,” he said.

But his calling to help others and a passion to serve them in their time of need outweighed any difficulties. And so when he relocated to Jamestown, NY, he resumed his work as a funeral director for two years. It was during that time that he met his future wife. He started thinking deeply about their future together and decided to return to his hometown of Oswego, NY.

Once home, Bill worked at a local funeral home for several years until he bought the Loescher Funeral Home business and ultimately turned his own household into a funeral home for the next 34 years. As the business expanded over the years, the Nelsons recognized the need for more space to better accommodate the diverse and growing needs of their customers. In 2005, they built a custom funeral services facility where the Nelson Funeral Home exists and operates today.

Today, Bill shares his passion for funeral service with his two children, Aimee and John, who spent their entire childhoods literally growing up in a funeral home. They now both work alongside their father each day in every aspect of the business. Like their father, both have learned to compassionately honor the lives of loved ones who have passed, while being present and attentive guides for families in their time of grief.

“No one in my family had ever worked in funeral service before me,” Bill said. “I didn’t know what I was getting into at the time, but I kind of felt then - and I know it now without a doubt - that this is my calling.”

Bill’s son John has followed particularly closely in his father’s footsteps, himself spending 20 years learning precisely how Bill uses his empathy and calling to guide families to peace and acceptance in their deepest time of need. Slated to become Bill’s successor as Nelson's Funeral Home director, John balances his father’s legacy - built with devotion and trust over the last three decades - while keeping an innovative eye on the horizon.

The Nelsons are focused on the future, to personalize every service as the needs, beliefs, technology, and attitudes of society change with each new generation.

And as Bill’s passion for funeral service is passing into the hands of the next generation, the Nelson tradition of unmatched attention to detail, quality, care, and compassion is carried on with it.