Otto W. 'Swede' Nilsson

Otto W. 'Swede' Nilsson

April 3, 1917-March 10, 2013

OMAHA, Nebraska -- Otto W. Nilsson of McCook and Omaha, Nebraska, died Sunday, March 10, 2013, at Oakland Manor Nursing Home in Oakland, Iowa. Otto would have turned 96 years old on April 3.

Otto was born in 1917, in Almhult, Sweden, to Betty (Anderson) and Carl Nilsson. He was the second youngest of seven children: sisters Anagreta, Elsa, Ogda and Christina, and brothers Arvid and Gustaf.

As an 18-year-old in 1935, Otto arrived in Omaha for the first time. He returned to Sweden a year later, and served in the Swedish Army Air Corps for seven months in 1937. He returned to Omaha in 1938 where he worked in his uncle Carl A. Anderson's automotive supply warehouse, learning not only the automotive parts and service business, but also the English language. He worked for Firestone in 1939, and as a mechanic for a road builder in 1940.

On Feb. 11, 1941, Otto volunteered for the U.S. Army and served one year at Camp Robinson. He served in the 35th Division of the 66th Infantry, in England and in France, until 1945. After his honorable discharge from the Army, he returned to Omaha and to work at Carl Anderson's.

From 1946-1947, Otto lived in Sweden, only to return to the U.S. in 1948. He then met Frances Lee Scaggs of Denver, Colorado, on the Denver Zephyr to Omaha. Later that year, Frances, a registered nurse with interests in people with disabilities and those with long-term care needs, met Otto's family when she traveled to Sweden to speak at a convention of the International Nurses Association in Stockholm. In 1949, Frances was working at Methodist Hospital in Omaha.

Otto and Frances married on Sept. 5, 1949, in Denver.

In 1950, Otto and Frances moved to McCook to help Carl Anderson open a shop that would offer not only automotive parts but service as well. The shop was located in a small wood-frame building in the 400 block of West Fourth.

As business and Otto's reputation for good service and fairness grew, Automotive Sales and Service expanded onto the lot west of the alley building (1958) and Otto bought out Carl Anderson's share of the business (1967). The business grew to include diesel and small engine repairs, and the complex eventually covered the quarter-block.

Because Frances enjoyed Omaha, the couple moved their family -- son Eric and daughter Annette -- to Omaha. Otto commuted between Omaha and McCook every weekend, and then, as he aged and his health started failing, at least monthly or regularly throughout each year until Thanksgiving 2007. From August of 2009 through December of 2011, Otto's daughter, Annette, and her husband, Bill Irwin, operated the business.

Otto and Frances enjoyed their first trip to Sweden together in 1952, touring in a 1950 Plymouth. They often hosted Otto's family members as they toured the United States.

Starting in the early 1950's, Otto enjoyed regular visits to Torsten Anderson, a fellow Swedish immigrant, who lived on a ranch at Max, Nebraska.

Otto was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Morning Star Lutheran Church in Omaha.

Frances died of cancer on May 17, 1997. Others preceding Otto in death were his parents and his brothers and sisters.

Survivors include his son, Carl Eric and his wife, Cathy, of Oakland, Iowa; and his daughter, Betty Annette and her husband, Bill Irwin, of Omaha; and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Viewing is planned Friday, March 15, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m., at Crosby Burket Swanson Golden Funeral Home, 11902 W. Center Road, in Omaha.

Services will be Saturday at 10 a.m., also at the funeral home. Burial will be at Evergreen Memorial Park, 2300 South 78th Street, Omaha, followed by a luncheon at the funeral home.

Memorials may be sent in Otto's name to the funeral home or to Annette, and they will be distributed among Otto's favorite charities.

Crosby Burket Swanson Golden Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Friends and family may go on the funeral home's web site -- www.crosby-burket.com -- to view the collection of photographs of Otto that will be shown at the funeral service.

Cards of condolences may be mailed to Annette and Bill Irwin at 1037 North 63rd Street, Omaha, NE 68132-1822; and to Eric and Cathy Nilsson at 40876 Lombardy Road, Oakland, IA 51560.