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In Memory of Nelson Baker


Don Coatney

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Nelsons Daughter just sent me the following. I suggest we all send an e-mail to the address below. Nelson may be gone but he will never be forgotten. The stories he has told us over the years of his adventures in his first P-15 should be published. Might be good if we all post our thoughts and then send the link to his daughter and she could share our thoughts with his beloved wife.

Don,

I am Nelson Baker's daughter, Karen. I am writing to you to inform you that my daddy died unexpectedly last night. He, unfortunately, had an ulcer that had gone undetected. He experienced a lot of blood loss during the day before the doctor was able to clamp off the artery opened up by the ulcer. The clamp only held for approximately 1 hour before the artery blew open and the bleeding started again. He went into cardiac arrest and the doctors, nurses, surgeons, etc. were not able to save him.

Would you be able to notify daddy's other P15 friends. My message to them is that through the friendships developed through this website, my dad experienced so much pleasure during these past few years. Thank you to all of you from my daddy and from all of his family. My e-mail address is: oceanmom57@yahoo.com.

Don, thank you and may God bless you.

Karen

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Karen, we are all so very sorry to hear this news. Nelson gave me a lot of joy reading his messages. We all enjoyed reading his stories and knowing how much we all have in common. Be assured that he leaves only good memories for us of a fine gentleman and a good friend. He will not be forgotten. May God be with you and comfort you now and in the coming days.

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My deepest condolences to you and your family. Nelson was indeed a breath of fresh air to this community. His contributions to the discussion here were an important part of the group's personality. I know I and others will miss his insights. In this time of great sadness please take heart that our thoughts are with you and yours. The sadness will pass and you will be left with the wonderful memories of the moments that made up his life and your's.

Greg G

Central New York

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This is posted in the Adventures section of the web page supporting this forum.

First Trip In Bess, My P15

It was a long time ago, 1952, driving from Turlock California to Nebraska. We hit a snow blizzard in Utah and stopped in Ogden for the night as we were just about out of gas. Stayed in the car that night, running the engine to keep warm. A P15 heater does a good job. My wife and I were sitting under a service station awning, thinking we could gas up in the morning. Suddenly we see a man walking down the middle of the street with a bucket of hot water and thought, that looks strange. Asked him when the station would open, he said "about a week". Asked him how far to next town, "48 miles to Rawlings." I tell my wife I hope we make it and she says Bess will do fine. I thanked him and we found out the water was for his tires which were frozen to the ground. Couldn’t see fence post on either side of the road in the snow and finding it was really hard. A bobtail truck rolled in to town and I asked what the road was like to Rawlings. He replied I should see his tracks all the way. We followed them and as we rolled into the gas station in Rawlings, Bess burped two times and died at the pump! My wife looked at me and said ‘See I knew she would make it."

From Nebraska we headed south to my home state of Oklahoma, as my wife had never been there. Got on Highway 9, headed for my hometown. She was looking ahead and all of a sudden says, "What’s that black thing in the sky?" I made a U Turn and that tornado chased us all the way to Texas. P15s go better than 70 miles an hour with a tornado on your tail!

In Arizona on Route 66 my wife is driving at 5:30 am while I slept. She lets out aloud scream "On my God, what’s that?" The brightest light I had ever since the Bikini bomb in the Pacific in the late 40s woke me up. Our radio was not picking up anything. Two hours latter the radio started working, "Did you see the bomb test this morning?" YES!

Family grew to four children and needed a bigger four-door car. That little ‘47 Plymouth Club Coupe is still out there some where. I searched for 8 years with no luck. I found my new ’48 Club Coupe last February. Only difference I can see is the oil dipstick and the ‘48 has 15 inch tires. Both are the same color. Keep them old beauties on the road. And I will be looking for Bess on P15-D24.

Nelson Baker

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