The booming voice of Owen Nelson was already there in 1977 when my boys first started competitive swimming with Aqua Aces. A year or so later, he became the head coach at Park Stockdale. For at least 3 decades, his presence at meets was evidenced by his leather-lung encouragement of his swimmers. His years in the sun led to a problem with skin cancer; however, in my last contact with Owen a few years ago, the cancer seemed under control. He was then working at branch libraries. Owen always wanted the best out of everyone and the best for everyone. His opinions were both strong and fair, sometimes with the agreement to disagree. In my limited world of scoring swim meets, I found Owen to be a really good person with whom to work. To his family, I would like to say thanks for sharing him with Kern County swimming; to God, I say thanks for the brief encounter of Owen in our lives.
Sincerely, the Schmidt family: Lee, Dorothy, David, Paul, Peter & Mark
[See obituary at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bakersfield/obituary.aspx?n=owen-b-nelson&pid=165649159#fbLoggedOut]
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