Drew E. Nelson

Drew E. Nelson, 62, a beloved husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend passed away in his home in Amherst New Hampshire, on August 8th, surrounded by the love of his wife Jennifer Nelson and son Evan Nelson. He was born in New Bedford Massachusetts to dedicated and loving parents Robert and Diane Nelson. He was raised in Dartmouth Massachusetts with his older brother Douglas Nelson, where he met his friend David Cohn in kindergarten; they would later become like brothers and lifelong friends. There he had many fun adventures driving about while eating vending machine snacks and listening to varied music, exploring the woods, and tinkering with cars. He would always be looking for new parts and trinkets, taking apart and reassembling these cars, and coming up with crazy and unusual modifications to them with David. Sometimes this resulted in “spare” or “leftover” parts; nobody knew what to do with them.

Drew loved above all other things spending time with his wife, son, and dog, whether it be out in nature exploring and going on adventures, taking them to various museums and interesting destinations, or simply hanging out at home, watching TV, playing video games with his son, and putzing about the yard. When hiking, or on any outdoors adventure, he was the “official water carrier” or “pack mule” of the family, whether he was carrying a fishing pole, fishing net and buckets, a camera, or just a few bottles of water. You could often find Drew and Evan searching for critters in ponds, rivers, beaches, or sometimes just under random rocks. This passion of his goes back to his youth, and he was delighted to share with his son and family. You couldn’t keep him away from investigating any body of water. He loved animals of all varieties, with even a toad taking up residence in a pair of his shoes. He rescued fish, frogs, chipmunks, and turtles. Whenever he encountered a turtle crossing the street, he stopped the car, got out, and would move the turtle to the other side to ensure it wouldn’t get hurt. He once rescued dozens of baby turtles who somehow found themselves in his work parking lot. When he wasn’t doing something with animals, he was doing something with plants, and grew a whole assortment of common garden plants, cacti, small trees, and many others. He especially loved spider plants and may have had a few too many of them, but was always happy to share these spider plants and the joy of gardening with others; it was a love he got from his father. 

Another passion he developed in his earlier years was his love and fascination with cars. He would often spend several hours on weekends working in his driveway and replacing all manners of parts or enhancing his vehicles. As a teenager, Drew and his Mom worked together to put a hood scoop on his Pinto, just because he could. His Jeeps in particular he loved, which he installed many upgrades on, including larger tires, lift kits, graphics, and sound systems. He found immense pleasure in driving “topless” down the highway while blaring 80’s music. You could hear the music whether you wanted to or not. There wasn’t a car he didn’t want to tinker with, and like in his youth, he occasionally had “spare parts”, but those spare parts made a great addition to his “brown bins” and were often recycled in other projects. He loved driving off-road, occasionally driving his Jeep on snowmobile trails because, “why not”. He loved that he could go anywhere in his Jeep. Driving around with his family on meandering country roads with nowhere planned to go other than forward was a staple family activity. If ice cream or good seafood were discovered, all the better, but the point of such journeys was the travel and time together. 

Extended family was a central part of Drew’s life. He enjoyed frequent road trips to Florida to see his parents and his brother and family, where he would reminisce about his childhood and discuss all manners of things, despite the heat of going to Florida nearly exclusively in the summer. His wife’s family, being local, were frequently involved in holiday and birthday celebrations. He enjoyed the noise and chaos of being part of a large family, where holidays were very festive and always had way too much food. He was delighted when he inherited the Christmas “tacky” bells from his father-in-law Collin Murray, and took great pride in maintaining and displaying them every year. He even kept the one green bulb for old time’s sake. Family meant the world to Drew, and he was always happy to be surrounded by their love. 

When he wasn’t directly with his family or working on his cars, he was working at BCM, where he worked as a service engineer, controls engineer, and hardware engineering manager for 27 years. He was greatly dedicated to his job and worked until just before he passed. He always had the best interests of his coworkers and the company at large in mind, and worked hard to provide encouragement and wisdom to those around him. He liked to say that he was “not paid for what he did, but for what he knew”. It was through his work at BCM that he met his wife Jennifer on a job site, who he married in 2001, even though their first date meal consisted of warm juice and a cold hot dog. They were simply meant to be together. 

Drew, Jennifer, and Evan made a happy little trio and a home filled with much love and unity. Drew was an amazing, dedicated, loving, humorous, and hard working husband and father. Everything he did was done to provide for his family and ensure that all resources were available to foster the family’s love. He fought bravely for the past year and a half, but never stopped caring and providing for those he loved, and he will be missed more than words can ever express. He was incredibly proud of his greatest joy, his son, who he taught well how to be a good man and good person. Drew was simply a great man. 

Drew is survived by his wife, Jennifer Nelson, and his son Evan Nelson. He is also survived by his mother Diane Nelson, and brother Douglas and Jeanne Nelson. In addition, he is survived by his wife’s family, Collin and Kelly Murray, Laura and Tom Fusco, and Kathryn and Michael Glowacki. He is also the uncle to many nieces and nephews. Drew leaves behind many friends, including his kindergarten lifelong buddy David Cohn. Drew is preceded in death by his father Robert Nelson and his in-laws Collin and Sheila Murray.

SERVICES: All are invited to meet on Thursday, August 13, 2026, at 11:00 AM in the Forestview Cemetery, Amherst, NH, for a graveside service in memory of Drew.