Church leader, peace group founder dies at 66
Father John 'Jack' Nelson, who had been battling liver cancer, ‘tried to do something positive in the world,' a friend says.
Father John “Jack” Nelson, founder of the Woodstock Council for World Peace and spiritual leader of the Church of the Holy Transfiguration on Meads Mountain Road, has died at age 66.
Nelson, known as Father John, died Tuesday morning at Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck after battling liver cancer, according to a longtime friend, photographer Doug Pototsky of Whately, Mass.
A Requiem Mass for Nelson is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at the church, 325 Meads Mountain Road, and he also will be buried there, according to the Lasher Funeral Home in Woodstock.
The website of the Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of North and South America and the British Isles says Vespers of the Dead are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at the church and Nelson’s body will lie there “for continual prayers by clergy and monks, as well as for anyone else who wishes to come and pay their respects” overnight Friday.
In a mission statement on the Woodstock Council for Peace website, Nelson wrote: “In our everchanging world of incredible natural wonders and seemingly timeless beauty, we all have been given a chance to share in the splendor of vast physical and spiritual realms. We are all here as caregivers to this place we call home, and it remains our joy to continue in the spirit of cooperation with all living things. And in this spirit, we invite every person to participate in a planetwide initiative, promoting a renewable, sustainable consciousness of peace. Let us all walk in peace, as one unified force for a more tranquil planet.”
“The bigger picture is what he left us,” Pototsky said. “He tried to do something positive in the world. It’s not about him. It was never about him.”
Town of Woodstock Supervisor Bill McKenna said he was shocked by Nelson’s death, and he called him “a gentleman.”
The supervisor said he met often with Nelson, who typically was “organizing this march or that march.”
Ironically, this weekend will mark the 10th anniversary of the Woodstock International Walk for Peace, which Nelson helped organize and, according to Potoski, had predicted might be his last.
The walk is scheduled to start 10 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of state Routes 212 and 375, proceed along Route 212 to the center of town and end at the Woodstock Public Library, 5 Library Lane.