Darryl Freeman Nelson

Darryl Freeman Nelson, 77, of Trussville, Alabama, was born on June 22, 1948 in Dickson, Tennessee, to Henry Clay Nelson and Lucille Patterson Nelson and his spirit passed into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ on August 5, 2025, following a brief illness. Darryl spent his early years in Dickson County, attending public schools and the local Nazarene Church, while making occasional trips to visit relatives both in nearby Nashville and rural Houston County’s Yellow Creek community. Being quite the story teller, he often told about accompanying, as a young lad, his father to a downtown Dickson street where the older men sat in rocking chairs on the sidewalk outside the Sheriff’s office, playing checkers and catching up on the latest news; or of spending hours riding his bicycle around town; or after-school work as a teenager at the local “service” station cleaning windshields and checking oil levels; or high school work at the Dickson Herald, local newspaper, where he learned about linotype printing and the activities required in putting together and distributing a successful newspaper; or participating in memorable youth activities at nearby Montgomery Bell State Park. Although life seemed difficult at the time, in hindsight, growing up in small-town middle Tennessee had many Norman Rockwell picturesque-like moments. After his 1967 graduation from Dickson High School, Darryl went to nearby Nashville where he spent the next 48 years. He obtained a certificate in Systems and Computer Programming from the Automation Institute of America. These computer skills provided employment at Werthen Industries, the Benson Publishing Company and Murray Ohio Mfg Co during the following decade. In 1977 Darryl graduated from Trevecca Nazarene College with a degree in Business Administration. Desiring to be his own boss, he established a photography and video production business, an endeavor from which he retired when he moved from Nashville in 2015. During the Nashville years, he also worked with Viacom, local TV News affiliates and a Legislative News Service. As camera operator, he worked with the latter for over 25 years during Tennessee Legislative sessions. During these years, their weekly program of legislative session highlights was broadcasts over all PBS stations in Tennessee. Darryl enjoyed music and seemed to know the titles, lyrics and performers for every song from the 1950’s – 1980’s. Like many other hopeful musicians, he taught himself to play the guitar. But local bands did not seem to need a guitar player. What was needed was a drummer. So, a drummer he became, eventually taking lessons from the featured drummer in the nationally broadcast ABC Orchestra. He played with a few groups before joining The Rivieras, a local group with a busy weekend schedule. Later, he was hired by the Fox Brothers, a southern gospel group, with whom there was busy weekend travel to perform at church homecomings, county fairs and the annual West Virginia Jamboree, and other out of state venues. As a Fox Brothers member, he participated in the first “Sunday Morning Country” concert at the close of Nashville’s 1982 Fan Fare week . The concert was sponsored by the Music City Christian Fellowship, a group in which he later was a board member/officer. The MCCF had been organized for musicians to encourage each other in their Christian faith and use their musical platform to witness to their fans. The Sunday concert was a church service which featured numerous well known country musicians and remains in the 21st century a concluding event on the Country Fest calendar. A drummer highlight for Darryl was playing a gig with the Stamps Quartet in a Nashville area concert. For several years, the group was the well known vocal backup for Elvis, so this was the closest Darryl got to experiencing his childhood dream of being an Elvis musician. At the core of Darryl’s being was his love of the Triune God of the Bible. He believed the Bible is God’s instruction manual for every human being and that in that Book of books, God has addressed any issue a person encounters, experiences or battles. No exceptions. When faced with the challenges of life, Darryl chose to search the Scriptures for God’s answer. He sought to associate with fellow believers in various Protestant belief systems and learned much from these relationships. Using his professional video abilities, he traveled on several occasions with different Christian organizations to the continents of Africa and South America, as well as Central America. These trips impacted him greatly. Seeing the impoverishment of life in third-world countries made him less patient with excesses in American culture, yet even more appreciative of the wonderful opportunities which he had been afforded in the USA. Bachelorhood for Darryl ended in mid-2003 with his marriage to Gay Dawn Horne, a lady in whom he found an embodiment of the Godly attributes which he had compiled in a written list many years prior. Predeceased by his parents, brothers Doyle Nelson and Glenn Nelson, and sister Hilda Nelson Rowlette, Darryl is survived by his loving wife, Gay Dawn Horne-Nelson and siblings Patricia Nelson Seal, Warren Nelson and Dwight Nelson, along with a host of nieces and nephews. Visitation for friends will be held on Thursday, August 14, 2025 from 2:30 PM until 3:30 PM at Deerfoot Memorial Funeral Home, 5360 Deerfoot Parkway, Trussville, AL, with the memorial service, James Long ministering, at 3:30 PM in the Funeral Home Chapel. A graveside service, open to family and friends, will be held at Crestview Cemetery in Laurel, Mississippi, on Saturday, August 16, 2025 at 10 AM, with Memory Chapel handling arrangements and Duane Parker ministering. On Darryl’s grave will be placed a marker bearing the desire Darryl noted in his high school yearbook, “He Made a Difference”. In lieu of flowers, donations in Darryl’s memory may be made to Mercury One, P.O. Box 140489, Irving, TX 75014 or Brother Bryan Mission of Birmingham, P.O. Box 11254, Birmingham, AL 35202.

Darryl Freeman Nelson

June 22, 1948 - August 5, 2025