Philip August John Nelson
Philip was born 29 February 1920 (Leap Day) to Merritt and Amy Lundberg Nelson in Litchfield, MN at the home of his maternal grandmother, Anna Lundberg. Philip was welcomed by two sisters; Ardis and Phyllis. He was baptized 4 April 1920, and was confirmed 10 December 1933 at First Lutheran Church in rural Cosmos. Merritt was very proud of his son and, as Philip grew, Merritt took him along almost everywhere he went. Philip met many people this way as a youngster.
He received his given name through an interesting means; Amy wanted him to be named Merritt, but Merritt did not want to have two ‘Merritts' in the same household. Then August Nelson, Merritt's father, offered Amy $100 if she named their son August. Merritt liked the name Philip as did Amy. Subsequently, the baby boy was named Philip August John, capturing both of his grandfathers' names, and allowing Amy to collect the $100 from August. Later, when Philip registered for the draft at age 21, he dropped the name August because the service required only one middle name.
When visiting Grandma Lundberg as a small boy, Philip would sit in his grandmother's lap and he recalled pulling on the loose skin in her neck. It is one of the few things he remembered about her. When Philip was a little older, he met two other small boys at church. They were Albert Jordin Jr. and Orville Johnson, and they would remain friends their entire lives. They played both softball and baseball, where he would play catcher and outfielder. This love of sports was passed on to all of his children and grandchildren.
Country school was a fun time for Philip, as he attended district #82, grades 1-8. He enjoyed school, but was just as excited to be able to stay home and help on the farm. His teacher was Miss Helen Willabee, and after completing the 2nd grade, Philip was told that he did not have to go through 3rd grade. So he was allowed to go right onto 4th grade. He would ride his horse or his bicycle to school, or Merritt would give the kids a ride in the car on his way to the creamery in Corvuso. In the winter time, Merritt gave Ardis, Phyllis and Philip a ride to school in the sleigh. Philip loved to watch the horses as they pulled the sleigh. In his early adult years, Philip's favorite work horses were named Kate and Fly. He recollected that they were the best behaved team he had ever worked with. In school, Philip's favorite subject was English. He graduated from the 8th grade, and then would have been content to stay at home and farm. But Amy made a bargain with him that if he tried high school for one year, she would allow him to quit if he so chose. But after the first year, Philip was very anxious to finish school, and went on to graduate from high school in 1937.
The Nelsons lived in a two story home nestled in a thick grove of trees. Philip had the first bedroom upstairs. The two girls, Ardis and Phyllis, shared a room down the hall. Philip said that his room was always cold, as there was no heat in that room. At the age of eight, Philip started milking the cows morning and evening. He had begun doing calf and pig chores at an even earlier age. Philip would get up at 5:00 am each morning, and he and Merritt or the hired man would milk the 25 cows. They were usually done by 7:30 am, when he would get ready for school. The hired man always lived in the house, and slept in the upstairs room that they had previously used as a storeroom. In the later years, that room was made into a bedroom shared by Philip and Muriel's five sons.
Growing up Philip recalls not getting an allowance. He and his siblings were given money if they ever needed it. While Merritt and Amy were strict disciplinarians, it was Merritt who rebuked the children with his loud voice. Amy was remembered by Philip as always speaking in a quiet voice, and communicating to her children the need to be kind and loving with all people. Philip and his mother loved to visit; and would often sit in the kitchen after supper and talk about her family and the good times that they had.
Christmas Eve was spent at home or at the home of Merritt's sister Emma and her husband, Anton Draxton. Thanksgiving holidays were often spent with Ed and Laura Danielson, and many times they drove to their home in Grantsburg, WI. Most Sundays the Nelsons spent visiting with many of their relatives.
Philip joined the Masonic Lodge in 1945 and continued his active membership for 63 years.
One of Philip's friends, Donald Johnson was going out on a date with his fiancée Elsie Anderson. Philip asked Don if there were any good looking girls from Cokato; where Elsie was from. Don said that there was a good looking blonde girl he knew from Cokato, who was a nurse. So Philip and Muriel were introduced on this blind date in October of 1946. They went with Don and Elsie to a movie in Waverly. One thing Philip found out about Muriel on this date was that she was not a blonde, but a brunette.
In February of 1947, Philip asked Muriel to marry him. Muriel's younger sister Carol was also dating a man from Litchfield; Everett Nelson. The two sisters decided to get married in a double wedding. On 21 September 1947, Philip and Muriel and Everett and Carol were married in Cokato, MN. Unbeknownst to either couple, both spent their honeymoon in the Black Hills. On the way out to SD, Philip and Muriel stopped at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD and listened to Tommy Dorsey play. Philip always loved the big bands, especially the Glen Miller band. Philip and Phyllis used to argue over who was the better singer. Philip thought Frank Sinatra was and Phyllis thought the better singer was Bing Crosby.
Philip and Muriel settled on the home farm in Danielson Township, Meeker County. Their first child Linda Susan was born in July 1948 and Philip John II in January 1950. Paul Merritt came along in July 1953, and Bradley Ralph was born on Philip's birthday; 29 February 1956 (another Leap Day baby).
In October of 1956, Philip was out combining corn, when he got his right hand/glove caught in the corn picker. He was halfway up the field, and he noticed a car driving by, that person thought Philip was just being friendly and waved back and kept on driving. Muriel had by then begun worrying about Philip as he should have started for home; so she decided to go out and check on him. She got out to the field; saw him waving and ran up to him in a hurry. Philip told Muriel to do certain things to the tractor, and then after checking on him, Muriel drove the tractor home with Philip still caught in the picker. At home, there was a crew building a pole barn on the place, so Muriel got one of the men to extract Philip from the picker. A neighbor then drove Philip and Muriel to the hospital. Philip was taken to surgery; subsequently needing to have his four fingers amputated. After his first surgery, Philip was in the hospital for 18 days. The neighbors knew that Philip's crops were not yet harvested. So they all got together and in a day and a half, completely harvested all the crops. They brought with them tractors, plows, corn pickers, and their goodwill. The women of the neighborhood also did their part by bringing food to feed everyone.
At home, Linda and Philip II now had the role of doing the outside chores. Some of the neighbors living close by came to do the milking. When they went to call the cows in for milking, none of them would come. Whatever they did, they could not get the cows to listen. So they asked Linda and Philip to come and help. As soon as Linda and Philip called the cows to come to the barn, the cows responded by walking right in the barn. The neighbors found out that the cows would not listen to anyone but these two children. So at every milking time, Linda or Philip had to be in the barn.
Philip's recovery took him through a total of five surgeries, one including wearing a body cast for three weeks. After each surgery, Muriel used her nursing skills to keep his wounds clean, and redressed his bandages daily. Brad was just a baby at this time, so the Nelson household was a very busy place. Muriel's mother Karen Bergquist came to stay with the family to help out. Over a number of months, Philip's right hand did heal very nicely. One day Merritt asked Philip what in the world he was going to do now that he could not farm anymore. Philip responded by saying that he would return to farming, and he did so. He learned to make his right hand useful again.
In May 1960 Jason Harlan was born, followed by Jan Muriel in December 1961. Heidi Elizabeth joined the family in May 1963, and the family was complete with the birth of Blair Harold in July 1966. Each child grew up with the love of their parents. The farm afforded everyone in the family the room to grow and to take part in their home life; it was a happy home.
Philip's favorite part of farming was plowing each fall. He loved working the soil; watching the mortar board turn over the ground, revealing the new black earth. Philip never grew tired of any of the farm work; it was a joy for him to do physical work and see the fruits from his labor. Most of all, Philip was a faithful servant of God; as he knew that he was given a gift to be able to live and work the land he loved. After many years of hard, physical work, Philip developed arthritis, and one winter day in January 2005, he fell and fractured his right hip. He convalesced and after that, needed to use a wheelchair to get around.
In January 2006, Philip and Muriel moved off their century farm to a townhouse in Litchfield, MN. They enjoyed the company of their children, grand-children and great grand-children. The children and grand-children all remembered their dad's favorite saying; ‘The less you say, the better you're off'. Philip August John Nelson passed away on 21 December 2008 at the age of 88 years. His family has grown a great deal in the years since he and Muriel met on a blind date, at that time not knowing how many lives would be impacted by their meeting.