Douglas R. Nelson

August 14, 1969 - March 1, 2020

Douglas Raymond Nelson was born August 14, 1969, in Santa Maria California. He was a happy boy, always laughing and joyful. When we moved to Rowland Heights, he was 4 years old and was so looking forward to starting kindergarten. When the big day arrived, he went kicking and screaming and it took 2 teachers to get him in the classroom. By the 2nd day of kindergarten on, he loved it! Blue was his favorite color, or at least his mom thought it was since she dressed him in blue quite often. It made his blue eyes bluer! As an adult he often said his favorite color was the color of a bruise…typical Doug comment. As a young student if he thought the teacher made a mistake he would challenge them. Once in 5th grade, Doug challenged the teachers spelling lesson and the teacher was not pleased. His parents were called into the school to discuss the situation. His tendency to challenge authority continued his entire life. Doug was in the Royal Ranger’s program at Christian Chapel. He earned many awards, including the Gold Medal of Achievement which is equivalent to Eagle Scout. He graduated from Rowland High School in 1989. He obtained his Associates Degree from Mt. San Antonio Junior College in 1991 and went on to obtain his Bachelors of Arts in Business Administration in 1994 from Cal State Fullerton. Since his graduation from Cal State Fullerton he took many courses in computer science. He was 2 courses short of obtaining a degree in Computer Science. He had plans to finish the requirements for his Masters program. He was always a hard worker. As a young man he worked as a Camp Counselor at Christian Chapel School and at Chick fil-A. After a period of time he was awarded an academic scholarship from Chick fil-A that he applied to his education at Cal State Fullerton. He worked at Olive Garden and Track and Trail and then settled into his career at Hewlett Packard where he remained for 18 years. He moved on and expanded his career path at VSP and then found his ideal position at the El Dorado County Tax Collectors Office. In October of 2007, Doug married the love of his live, Rachel. They built their life together in Cameron Park.