Remembering the life of Lester Thomas (Pastor Tom) NILSON (2024)

Lester Thomas Nilson (Pastor Tom) died on Saturday morning June 15, 2024, with his daughter-in-law Linda at his bedside at home at College Park II in Regina, Saskatchewan. He died peacefully after getting steadily weaker over the past while. Tom was born in Secretan, SK, on April 1, 1926, in a snowstorm to Josephine Jacobson Nilson and Andrew Michael Vikestol Nilson. He was the fifth of eight children, four girls and four boys. His wife, Randi Maria Farden Nilson (1926-2019), his parents and all of his siblings have predeceased him. He is survived by three children, eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren – John Thomas Nilson and Linda Lee Nilson of Regina and their daughters, Ingrid Andrea Nilson of Vancouver, BC, and Solveig Marit Nilson and Sotonye Igoniko and Boma of Regina; Ralph Andrew Nilson and Suzanne Marcia Nilson of Nanaimo, BC, and their daughters, Bethany Marcia Nilson O'Krancy and David O'Krancy and Lucy of Regina; and Anna Marie Nilson Laidlaw and Richard Laidlaw and Jack, Scott, and Tom of Ottawa, ON; JoAnn Kathryn Nilson and James Lokken of Saskatoon and their sons Nils Andreas Akpan Lokken and Robin Brown Lokken and Soren and Selwyn of Prince Albert, SK; Olaf Peder Nilson Lokken and Catherine Yamniuk Lokken and Micah, Esme and Isla of Charlottetown, PEI; Torbjorn Johan Nilson Lokken and Lauren Achtemichuk and Anders of Saskatoon; and Knut Ragnvald Nilson Lokken and Megan Fortune of Fredericton, NB. He is also survived by his sisters in law, Greta Wells Nilson of Moose Jaw, SK, and Betty Nilson of Hudson Hope, BC. His predeceased brothers and sisters and spouses are Dorothy and Roy Turner of Central Butte, SK; Melinda and Clarence Chelsberg and Cy West of Moose Jaw, SK; Norman Nilson of Vancouver, BC; Obert Nilson of Hudson Hope, BC, and Margaret Simrose Nilson of Prince George, BC; Arne Nilson of Parkbeg, SK; Florence and David Olson of Strongfield, SK; and Evelyn and Hans Burmeister of Brandon, MB. He was also predeceased by his wife Randi's only sister Gertrude Anna Farden Satre and Harold Curtis Satre. Then the family moved to the farm north of Parkbeg where three more children were born. They attended a one room school about one and a half miles from home. When the snow melted, the kids cast off their shoes and went barefoot all summer. Tom and his brothers each had their own trapline. Tom used his money from catching muskrats, weasels and coyotes to purchase stamps for his collection. This became a lifelong hobby. The eight Nilson children and the ten Grasdal cousins who lived close by made life interesting for their mothers who were sisters who had grown up in Finley, North Dakota, and their fathers who were best friends from Austevoll, just south of Bergen, Norway. When Tom later wrote his 600-page family history, Austevoll Saga, he showed that all his Jacobson, Baardsen, Kolbeinsvik, Vikestol, and Grasdal ancestors came from Austevoll. Genealogy also became a lifelong interest. Tom was a good student but he took a couple of years off from high school to work on neighbouring farms. When he returned to high school, he went to live with his oldest sister Dorothy and her family so he could attend school in Mawer, SK. After that year, the local Lutheran pastor, George Evenson, with urging from Tom's father persuaded him to complete Grade 12 at Lutheran Collegiate Bible Institute in Outlook, SK, starting in the fall of 1944. He was given a student job as janitor to help pay for his tuition and board. For Tom this was an important turning point in his decision to become a pastor as he made many friends. Fortuitously he also met a young woman from Macrorie who was attending the summer bible camp at LCBI who was studying at the University of Saskatchewan. Randi, her widowed mother Anna and her sister Gertrude were managing a large farm five miles south of Outlook in the summer and living in Saskatoon in the winter. Tom's interlude working on various farms came in handy when Randi and Tom eventually got married in 1950. In the fall of 1945, Tom started at U of S and the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon. It was a compressed post-war plan of study which allowed him to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Divinity degree in five years. Internships were completed in the summers at Inwood, MB, Stewart Valley, SK, Ryley, AB, and Medstead, SK. Money was always scarce but the Lord (and Tom's strong back!) provided what was needed. Randi had completed her dietetic degree in 1947 and then did her one-year internship at Hamilton General Hospital in Ontario. Tom was very happy when she began her first job as a dietitian at the Saskatoon Tuberculosis Sanitorium. Their relationship blossomed but discreetly as the seminarians were to avoid relationships during their studies. However, they were expected to be married when they moved to their first parish! Tom and Randi accomplished this and were married on September 29, 1950, after Tom was ordained on May 21, 1950, and he had accepted the call to a five-point parish in Medstead, including Robinhood, Bapaume, Urland and Belbutte. John was born in 1951 in Saskatoon and brought home to the parsonage in Medstead renovated by Tom. In 1952 the family of three moved to Prince Albert (PA Lutheran, now Messiah) where Ralph was born in 1953. Pastor Tom was the voice of the Lutheran Sunday Service on CKBI radio for four years. He also served as the President of the Christopher Lake Lutheran Bible Camp. He tirelessly raised money for the new Lutheran Sunset Home in Saskatoon. In January 1956, the family of four moved to Lynn Valley in North Vancouver, BC, to serve and build the mission church, Mount Olivet Lutheran. JoAnn was born in 1956. Pastor Tom also served on the board of Camp Luther at Hatzic Lake, BC. The family of five moved to Edmonton and Central Lutheran Church in 1961. In the fall of 1963, the family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where Tom started graduate school at Concordia Lutheran Seminary. During the summers in the Fifties and Sixties, the family spent happy vacations at the farm at Macrorie where we had our own sandy beaches in the pasture on the South Saskatchewan River. Visits to Grandma Nilson and the Nilson family at the Parkbeg farm were always pleasant adventures as well. In 1965, Tom received his Masters of Sacred Theology degree and in the fall the family moved to New Westminster, BC, to serve Mount Zion Lutheran Church. Pastor Tom served as the President (now called Bishop) of the BC Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. He was the BC Representative on the national board of the Canadian Bible Society. His many years on the ELCC Board of Trustees allowed him to provide financial guidance to the national church. He returned to the Camp Luther Board and infamously organized the 1971 purchase for $1.00 of a Jericho Beach military apartment block. It was cut in half with a chain saw and transported on two moving trucks to a barge and then towed up the Fraser River to Hatzic and then to the camp. Tom and Randi and the children loved living in BC but the Prairies continued to call. With JoAnn attending LCBI in Outlook with her Satre cousins, Tom and Randi moved to Regina in 1973 to serve Our Savior's Lutheran Church. After the Farden farm at Macrorie was sold in 1965 to accommodate the South Saskatchewan River Project, Tom and Randi were without a farm home for four years. In 1969, the Chelan farm was purchased next to the new Satre farm. This special place became a family retreat that continues to welcome the next generations. Pastor Tom's ministry in Regina included home visits with members, large confirmation classes and construction of the new church that was dedicated in 1979. He relished grocery shopping (and visiting!) at the Safeway next door to the church., Tom took early retirement to spend more time at the Chelan farm. Tom and Randi continued to travel to Norway to visit aunts, uncles and cousins. In 1983, they moved to North Battleford to serve Zion Lutheran Church. Randi enjoyed her new job as the dietitian at the Saskatchewan Hospital. In 1985, Tom and Randi hosted the festive wedding of JoAnn and James. In 1986, a three month stay with JoAnn and James at their CUSO posting in Ukana Iba, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, was an adventure. In 1988 after retiring again, Tom and Randi started a one-year journey around the world. Stops included Europe, Africa, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and China. Recently Tom enjoyed talking with his care aides and usually surprised them when he told them he had visited their countries. On their return, they retired to Regina and the Chelan farm. In 2012 after many happy years on Queen Street, Tom and Randi moved to Broadway Terrace. When Randi died in 2019, Tom was lonely but appreciated the support of family and his BT community. Retirement was busy and happy with caring for grandchildren, supporting Ralph and Suzie with their U of Regina activities, providing back up for John and Linda as John was elected to the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly and assistance to JoAnn and James in Regina and then in Saskatoon. All eight grandchildren were able to spend many hours and days with Grandpa Tom. He tried to teach them about repairing his Ford Model A and his Case LA tractors. All learned to drive in one of his farm trucks. All were able to appropriately use hammers and saws at early ages in farm construction projects. The great-grandchildren have not received the same hands-on instruction, but they will never forget his hugs and big hands after he held them in his arms. Tom was a people person. He grew up with few resources but he developed a keen sense of financial management which he taught to all of his children and grandchildren. He also shared this skill with his church on so many levels. He loved bold ideas and building institutions and structures. He was generous with his time. He honoured learning and teaching in everything he did. He will be missed by all his family and friends. Stories of his experiences will keep his memory alive. We rejoice that Randi and Tom are together again! A Funeral Service will be held at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, 190 Massey Road, Regina, SK S4S 4N5 on Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. The funeral service will be available on Zoom through the church website at oslregina.com. The burial will be at the Bethania Lutheran Cemetery near Macrorie on Monday, June 24, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. with a reception at the Macrorie Town Hall. Family and friends are invited to leave tributes at www.reginafuneralhome.ca. Arrangements entrusted to

To plant a tree in memory of Lester Thomas (Pastor Tom) NILSON, please visit Tribute Store.

Published online June 21, 2024