Maybe being a “military brat” put an unrecognized longing to find roots in Glen Nelson that he never knew he felt until he came to Lincoln, Missouri. Nelson had been born in Memphis, Tennessee and the family moved to California when he was 12 years old.
Nelson’s dad was a career military man and he had been transferred to the Golden State. At a young age, Nelson went to work for Pacific Bell Telephone Company but went into the Marine Reserves in 1965 until 1971, taking a year off for the Reserves and then returned to Pacific Bell.
Nelson met Cathey Wass and they were married in 1967. The couple has three sons; Glen, Michael and Mark. They began their married lives in Santa Rosa, California but later moved to Napa Valley and this is where they were living when they made the decision to take early retirement and move to Lincoln, MO. The Bell system was merging and it was the perfect time to leave. The population explosion, plus the large number of tourists visiting the wineries in the Napa area had diminished their quality of life.
Nelson and Cathey had come to Lincoln to visit his father and his sister who was married to a local man when they first viewed what would become their future home. It was the McCain house that overlooked a private lake. The couple took one look and knew they were in love with the spot.
Nelson took retirement in 1995, after a nearly 32 year career with Pacific Bell and they happily packed up and moved to mid-Missouri. They were still getting settled when the Lincoln truck stop burned, creating unending future headaches for the town council.
By 2002, Nelson was elected mayor, a position he would fill for three terms. During his first time as mayor, he was happy to be a part of bringing 911 to the county.
In 2004, he became very involved in supporting the historic grass air strip and was on hand when the first fly-in was held. Nelson has always supported the fly-in as it showcases the unique airfield under Jim Bench’s expert guidance.
The on-going headaches of dealing with an environmental clean-up following the truck stop fire finally came to an end in 2006 when the property sold at auction and the city was awarded funds for the clean-up costs.
In the meantime, Mayor Nelson had worked diligently in 2004 to prevent MoDOT from bypassing Lincoln with the widening of Highway 65. Without the through traffic, the lifeblood of the existing businesses would have been gone, along with the tax income that supported city services. A ribbon cutting to celebrate keeping the roadway in town was held in 2005, two weeks after Nelson was out of office.
Lincoln took on the water project in 2005-06. The old water tower was replaced with a new one east of Highway 65 and 88% of the water lines were repaired or replaced at that time.
By 2008, Nelson had been appointed to the Bothwell Regional Health Center Board of Directors and had become Chairman of the Board by 2016. During those 8 years, Nelson was part of the building of the Canon Cancer Center and the Heart Center, all under one roof. A new clinic was constructed on Winchester Drive, a wound center opened, and the Warsaw location was built and opened for the residents of Benton County.
By 2018, Nelson was back on the Lincoln City Council and in 2019, he had to resign the position to become the Northside Commissioner of Benton County. He had been appointed by Governor Parsons to fill the seat after Jim Hansen had left to take on the position of County Assessor that had been vacated by Roger Reedy’s election to the Missouri House of Representatives.
During this time, the county was building a new jail facility and Nelson's very first commission meeting was with the contractor on the project. Another issue facing the commission was during Covid when the county was awarded federal funds to assist in what was, in essence, a national shutdown. Nelson worked diligently to see money was given to small business owners to insure their survival.
In 2021-22, Lincoln underwent a major sewer project that has resulted in a state of the art sewer system, large enough to handle an industry should they choose to locate in the area. During this time period, Nelson intensified the city-wide clean-up efforts, ridding the community of many eyesores. By now, Project 353 was in place and that brought the first Dollar General to the north end of the Highway 65 corridor. The store was so well received that the company built a new store further south on the strip and it is reported to be one of the three largest in the state.
At this time of life and through all these projects, Nelson served as the Lincoln representative for the Whiteman Base Community Council, a position he considered very important in showing support for the military families. He has made the community aware of the economic impact that WAFB has on the entire area.
With the roads, sewer and water supply ready for industry, the question for Mayor Nelson was, “What more would you like to see fulfilled?”
He responded, “My hope is for middle-income housing in Lincoln. It is really needed.”
Mayor Nelson commends the team that keeps Lincoln running smoothly.
He stated, “We have an outstanding city team of the Aldermen, Public Works, the City Clerk and the Police Department. They are a well-oiled team that works well together.”
Some people look for the perfect small town to retire to. Others love a town at first sight, move there and set about seeing what they can do to make it better for everyone there. The latter describes Mayor Glen Nelson perfectly and is why he is the Benton County Enterprise's Person of the Year for 2024!
