Floyd Nelson services set

Funeral services have been set for tomorrow for Floyd "Pete" Nelson, 57, the father of Orlando Magic basketball player Jameer Nelson. Mr. Nelson's body was found by a boater on Saturday in the Delaware River in Wilmington.

Police had been searching for him since Thursday, when coworkers at Hays Tug & Launch Service in Chester reported him missing. Mr. Nelson, who had worked for Hays as a painter and welder for 10 years, had been painting the underside of a barge before he walked across a wharf to a tug where he usually had lunch. Coworkers later found the remains of his lunch, car keys and blood-pressure medicine in the tug's galley and his car in the nearby parking lot. A search, however, yielded nothing.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Jameer Nelson said his father had attended not only his basketball games, but all the sports events of his children and nieces and nephews.

"He would give away his last penny to help his children or a friend," his son said. "He took care of his family and treated everyone with respect."

Mr. Nelson was always on cleanup duty in his neighborhood in Chester, where he lived for more than 35 years, his son said.

Mr. Nelson grew up in North Philadelphia. After graduating from Simon Gratz High School, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served a tour of duty in Vietnam.

After his discharge, he was a welder at Sun Shipyard in Chester and later worked at the BP Oil Co. refinery in Marcus Hook.

Harry Hays, the owner of Hays Tug & Launch, told the Associated Press: "His son wanted him to retire, but he said, 'No way, I love my job.' He just told me about a month ago."

In 2004, Mr. Nelson wrote a book, Jameer, about his son, who that year starred for for the St. Joseph's University basketball team, was a first-round NBA draft pick, and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.

In addition to his son Jameer, Mr. Nelson is survived by sons Floyd Jr. and Maurice; daughters Althea Hanna and Tamira; nine grandchildren; one great-grandchild; his former wife, Linda Billings; and his fiancee, Elsie Plummer.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at St Luke's Christian Church, 318 Central Ave., Chester. Burial will be in Chester Rural Cemetery, Chester.