Nelson Janes

Obituary of Nelson Botts Janes

Nelson Botts Janes December 26, 1944 – February 6, 2020 Nelson Botts Janes of Las Vegas, Nevada died early Thursday morning, February 6th, with his wife of 52 years at his side. He was 75 years old. The son of Ernest Lee Janes and May Elizabeth Botts, Nelson was born in Lexington, Kentucky the day after Christmas, 1944. While Lexington and the Washington, D.C. areas served as home bases, Nelson and his older brother, Ernest Lee Janes, Jr., grew up as “Army brats” around the United States and Europe. Nelson did his undergraduate work at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and earned his Master’s degree at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He was married on August 19th, 1967 at Christ Church Georgetown to his life’s great love, Laura Tyler Coleman. They raised their family in New York City, Reston, VA and Philadelphia, PA before continuing to Albuquerque, NM, Sacramento, CA, and finally retiring in Las Vegas, NV. Nelson’s work was a driving force behind these moves. After starting his career at Time Inc. in New York City, Nelson moved his family to Reston, VA to pursue his successful 36 year career in the nonprofit sector, 20 years of which he served as chief executive. His family has heard often of the impact that his leadership had on the careers of former colleagues-turned-friends, with many benefitting from his interest in adult education and organizational development. He was also hilarious, and this humor made him a delight to collaborate with both in professional settings as well as the civic organizations he supported. Nelson Botts Janes is universally lauded by his family, peers, and life-long friends as a towering gentleman whose humor and grace were surpassed only by his patience and his calm. He is deeply loved by his wife, children, and grandchildren. With all of the commitments that he maintained, his family always knew they came first. He made the world a safer, warmer place for those he loved. He is survived by his wife, Laura Tyler Coleman Janes; his brother Ernest Lee Janes, Jr., his daughter Laura Tyler Wilson and her husband Brian Wilson of Half Moon Bay, CA; his daughter Elizabeth Sinclair Kaufmann and her husband Michael Kaufmann and their children Moses George and Atlas Elijah of Indianapolis, IN; and his son Nathaniel Coleman Janes and his wife Kelley Collier Janes and their children Henry Carl, Abel Faraday, and Greta Lee of Austin, TX. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Desert Springs United Methodist Church: https://desertspringchurch.com/give
Share Your Memory of
Nelson