Benches honor dedicated walker

PEA RIDGE — Walkers in the city may find a bench on which to rest thanks to the generosity of Neal Nelson, whose late wife, Jackie, was an avid walker.

Nelson donated $1,700 to the city and plans to donate one more check making the total donations $2,000, he said.

Mayor Nathan See said Nelson approached him wanting to contribute money for benches.

“I think what he donated will provide all the benches that will be placed in the sixacre park,” See said.

Plaques stating that the benches are in honor of Jackie Nelson will be placed on the benches.

“We appreciate the community involvement,” See said. “Before she passed, she and Neal were adopt a street volunteers for Greer Street. They were one of the most dedicated adopt a street partners in the city.

“I appreciate how involved he and his wife were, and how involved he is today,” See said.

Nelson said Jackie passed July 30, 2023.

“I just want people to know she was a sweet caring, wonderful person. She loved Pea Ridge and she loved walking through the community and liked having people wave and waving back. It was a small town feel.

“We were only here four years … She enjoyed every minute of it. I just wanted to show people there is still kindness in the world,” Nelson said.

The Nelsons moved to Pea Ridge from Illinois. He said he had seen a magazine article that stated Bella Vista was a good place to live, so he researched the area and began visiting. Ultimately, they selected Pea Ridge.

“We enjoyed it and kept coming back. We decided to buy a house here. Bentonville was getting too big … we like the small town— Pea Ridge fit that perfectly,” he said.

He said Jackie use to walk six miles a day including a two-mile loop in Battlefield Estates and another loop around Walmart and Patton Street.

“I would only do two miles,” he said smiling. “It was nice. She just enjoyed walking.”

Nelson said the town from which they moved had a population of about 15,000 people and nobody would wave and few would stop for them to cross the street.

The Nelsons were married for 26 years. He retired after serving as a comptroller for an association of a legal administration.

“She probably encouraged me more than I did her,” he said.

A member of the Lions Club and Messiah Lutheran Church, Nelson attends most of the City Council and Planning Commission meetings.

“I just want to see how city works,” he said. “I’m more interested in how the town is going.”

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Annette Beard) Neal Nelson and Mayor Nathan See show a plaque that will be put on the many benches to the city that Nelson donated in honor of his late wife, Jackie Nelson, an avid walker.