[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 104 (Wednesday, June 14, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE LIFE OF PAUL NELSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Steel). The Chair recognizes the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. 
Paul Nelson, a longtime Erie, Pennsylvania, businessman who passed away 
on Sunday, May 21.
  Mr. Nelson was 89 years old, but I don't think you could ever say 
that Mr. Nelson was old. Oftentimes, people compared him to a cross 
between Willy Wonka and Peter Pan. Why was that? Well, Mr. Nelson ran 
Waldameer Park & Water World.
  Mr. Nelson started working there when he was 11 years old. He married 
the love of his life, Lane, and together, they ran Waldameer.
  You can say many things about Mr. Nelson, but what you can't say is 
that he ever had a bad day because he never had a bad day.
  I think when we talk about people at their passing, oftentimes, we 
are very sad, and we say it is horrible that we have lost him. I am 
different. I am just happy that we had him.
  What if Paul Nelson had never been born? What if Paul Nelson had 
never been in Erie, Pennsylvania? What if Paul Nelson had never married 
Lane? What if Paul Nelson had never taken Waldameer and made it an 
iconic place for people to take their children?
  When he was 83 years old, Madam Speaker, I was visiting with Mr. 
Nelson up at Waldameer, and he goes: Mike, how much time do you have?
  I said: Mr. Nelson, as much time as you need.
  He says: Come with me.
  We went to his office. He looked around to see who else was there and 
pulled out a set of plans. He unfolded them.
  I said: What are you going to show me?
  He said: This is my 10-year plan for Waldameer Park.
  I said: Mr. Nelson, I don't think you could define optimist other 
than an 83-year-old man with a 10-year plan.
  His passing, yes, we grieve. We don't want to lose him, but what if 
we never had him? Where would the tragedy have been? The tragedy would 
not have been that he was here and died. The tragedy would have been if 
Mr. Nelson had never lived.
  I think when we go through moments like this and have a chance to 
reflect on the people who we represent, we understand that we represent 
more than a person. We represent an attitude. We represent a legacy. We 
represent people who rely on us to come here and represent them.
  Look, you can't say enough about Mr. Nelson. I told you, he is a 
cross between Willy Wonka and Peter Pan. I always found him to be so 
charming. We awarded him as a Community Champion of the district when I 
was able to see him.
  I think people need to take time every once in a while to look not 
just at the birth date and passing date but look at the time in 
between. What did they do with that time? Was it time well spent? At 
the end of that time, can we look back and smile and say how blessed 
was I to have had something that made saying good-bye so hard to do?
  This guy was incredible.
  Madam Speaker, I will never yield this man's memory and what he did 
for Erie, Pennsylvania, and for childhood devotees who just couldn't 
wait to go to Waldameer in the summer.

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