Anthony Lawrence Nelson, Jr.
January 6, 1965 - July 19, 2019
Anthony Lawrence Nelson, Jr. passed peacefully into his eternal reward surrounded by his loving family and close friends on July 19, 2019. He was born January 6, 1965 in Garden Grove, CA. He attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, CA and graduated from Long Beach State University. Tony was president of a local Junior Achievement society in high school and while working on a club project he met the love of his life, Jennifer Kalasky. They had a deep and strong relationship that was centered on family, food and fun.
He is survived by his wife, Jenny; son, Jacob; daughter, AnnMarie; mother, Marie Nelson; sisters, Lori Gay (Chris), Cheryl Ryan (Joe), Tricia Schierer (James); and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, Anthony Nelson, in 2015.
Family was at the center of Tony's life. He adored his wife Jenny and his children and was immensely proud of them and their accomplishments. He loved spending time with his parents, sisters and their families and was always the center of entertainment. He was ready, willing and able to fire up his grill or pizza oven to host large groups of friends and family at his home trying out new and elaborate recipes.
Tony was a renaissance man and had many passions. He and his wife were co-founders of Spectrum Home Services that helped keep retirees in their homes. Tony was involved in local government issues and was an advocate of the people working as a watchdog against government agencies. Mostly recently he worked for Scheels in the Hunting and Fishing Department where he had many friends and excelled in sales. He was an aide to the California House of Representatives where he helped enact the 1990 California Proposition 132 which banned gill net fishing off the coast of California to protect seals and other wildlife and was key in instituting a helmet laws in California.
One of his other passions was food. He had an exceptional palate and innate sense of recipe design. This melded well into one of his other loves; the great outdoors. He was an avid hunter and fisherman and is well known in Utah for his knowledge of the wild areas of Utah. He designed and marketed his Crawdad Hotel. He published fishing and hunting guides and wrote guest columns for Field and Stream.
Tony did nothing halfway. He was all-in whether it was his family, friends or poking fun at someone. He loved to tease and play practical jokes on people. He was a fervent gardener and kept a remarkable garden at home.
Tony was an exceptional man who was charismatic and liked by all who came in contact with him. He was generous in is time, money and love and will be greatly missed by all of us.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Friday, July 26, 2019 at 11:00 AM at Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church, 300 East 11800 South. Please share you photos and memories with the family at www.starksfuneral.com.