Richard J. Nelson, Jr.

Richard J. “Muggsy” Nelson, Jr. died peacefully on Thursday evening, February 9th, 2017 at age 90. Born in Anahuac, Texas on May 31st, 1926, he served in the Navy during WWII, then attended Sam Houston State Teachers College on a 3 sport scholarship & GI Bill. He went on to play semi-pro baseball before returning to work on the shipping docks of Houston as a longshoreman as did his father, Richard J. Nelson, Sr. He was nicknamed “Muggsy” by his family because he called his milk bottle his “mugs” as a toddler and despite his efforts to lose that nick name, it remained with him all his life. Muggsy met his wife, Marie Ann Schneider, at age 12 when he threw an apple core at her while she rode by on her bicycle. They became "steadies" until they married at age 18 on Christmas Eve while he had a 3 day pass from the Navy. Muggsy & Marie enjoyed 65 years of marriage until he lost the love of his life to a stroke. Survived by his daughter, Pam (Mark) Thompson and son, Richard J. Nelson III (Lisa), his granddaughters, Michelle Klarman Adams (Michael) and Amber Nelson, grandsons, Charles & Jessie Moore, great grandchildren Jacob Klarman, Stephanie Klarman, Bailey Adams & Jetta Adams & great great grandson, Landon Adams and his beloved “rescued toy poodle” Stubby”. He was preceded in death by his two beloved brothers, Jack Nelson and William Nelson. Muggsy and Marie moved to Aiken in 2001 to be with their five generations of family (his mother, Cecil Nelson Clegg, lived with Pam and her husband, Mark Thompson in Aiken). An avid golfer, he mentored many young golfers at his home club, The Corpus Christi Country Club. He was a member of Aiken Golf Club and Cedar Creek Golf Club & still able to shoot “his age” or under until age 88! Service at Shellhouse Rivers Funeral Home, 715 East Pine Log Road, will be at 2pm on Tuesday, February 14th, 2017. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to The First Tee of Aiken in his memory. SHELLHOUSE - RIVERS FUNERAL HOME, 715 EAST PINE LOG RD., AIKEN, SC To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Richard J. Nelson, Jr., please visit our flower store.