Henry Nelson Keyser, Jr. October 3, 1918 - June 29, 2020 Henry Nelson Keyser of Merion Station, Pennsylvania passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 29, 2020 after a long and adventurous life filled with countless friends, a loving family, and 70 years of marriage to his best friend Mary McCaffrey Keyser. Nelson was born to Henry N. Keyser and Della M. (Heanue) Keyser on October 3, 1918 in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. A lifelong member of the Catholic Church, he and his younger sister, Mary Elizabeth, grew up together and remained close throughout their lives. Nelson was a rambunctious, inquisitive, and industrious child. He learned to drive a truck when he was 8-years old on trips to a farm in Virginia. On New Years Eves he lined firecrackers up and down the street in front of his house on Birch Ave. and set them off in celebration. He sailed a model sailboat on a lake in Fairmount Park where the Carousel House now sits, and tested its seaworthiness by sailing it on the Schuylkill River in the shadows of workers building the then new Philadelphia Museum of Art. He and friends kept a Model A Ford in a field adjacent to the Rock Hill quarry so they could tinker and take turns driving it. He kept his love and zest for life throughout his 101 years. Nelson graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys at 49th and Chestnut St. in 1936 and quickly established himself within what is now commonly referred to as The Greatest Generation. His father had died the year before and his graduation present from his mother was a ticket on a Ford Tri-Motor airplane from Boston to Philadelphia with a stop in New York. He pursued his enthusiasm for aviation by earning his Airman Certificate from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Civil Aeronautics Administration as an Aircraft Mechanic and Aircraft Engines Mechanic. For two years he plied his trade at the Naval Air Material Center at the Philadelphia Navy Yard before being called to active duty as an Aviation Machinist in the U.S. Navy in 1944. At the time, his supervisors at the Navy Yard wrote multiple letters of introduction and praise for young Nelson, including the following from Lt. J.T. Connolly: "Mr. Keyser is energetic, industrious and ambitious with a character beyond reproach. I can unhesitatingly recommend him as possessing qualities of leadership, loyalty and patriotism, and willingly vouch for his integrity in any position of trust." Over the next two years, Nelson fulfilled that promise serving in the Navy at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, California. He was honorably discharged in 1946 and hitchhiked back to his home in Philadelphia. Soon after his arrival, his friend Andy Maloney invited him to a graduation party for his younger sister and some of her friends. It was there that Nelson first met Mary McCaffrey. The two fell in love, married in 1948 and together raised seven children, traveled the world, and spent many idyllic days cruising the Chesapeake Bay with their best friends Jane and Fred Hill. Nelson was a doting husband throughout their 70 years together until Marys passing in August of 2019. He would often say he didnt deserve Mary, and he meant it. He loved to work, but you could set your watch on him coming home in time for family dinner. His first priority every evening was to find Mary to give her a hug and a kiss. Nothing could stop him from that daily joy. Nelson used his G.I. Bill to help his new father-in-law open a second location of James J. McCaffrey Jewelers in Haverford, Pennsylvania which he managed into the late 1950s. He then was recruited by the Simons family to operate Simons Brothers, Co., a gold and silver jewelry manufacturing company in Philadelphia. Within five years he purchased the company outright and went on to lead it every day for 60 years, eventually working alongside his children, until age 99, he needed to stay home to take care of Mary. He loved travelling the country to meet his customers and drop in on friends and family, which he continued well into his 90s thanks to a mind and body and vigor that did not relent. On his 99th birthday he met with a customer in Cleveland who surprised him with a cake to celebrate. Even as technology and consolidation began dominating the industry, Nelson always focused on the personal relationships he cherished and his loyal customers valued. When he received a mousepad for an early computer in the mail he turned to his son and asked how he was supposed to catch a mouse with it. When Mary threw him a party for his 100th Birthday, everyone showed up, with friends, family, and customers travelling from California, Texas, Michigan and more than a dozen other states. An avid tennis player, Nelson played every weekend with the same group of friends for decades in Jack Purcell sneakers which remain in his closet to this day. Some of Nelsons greatest moments of joy came from watching his children, and later grandchildren and great-grandchildren compete in athletics. He was a fixture in the stands of the Haverford Township Little League for years where he would yell "Lets Go Pirates" at the top of his lungs, especially when hope for victory was dwindling. Years later, he would travel to Annapolis to cheer on his grandson who rowed for the Naval Academy. When he was 98 he sat in a rainstorm in a poncho while other fans fled to their cars to watch his great grandsons play youth soccer. At his granddaughters graduation from Haverford College in 2018 he stood proudly in the fieldhouse underneath the colleges Track & Field records that bore his name thanks to his granddaughters contribution to the colleges Distance Medley Relay record. Nelson was a great adventurer who loved leading his sons on Boy Scout trips hiking the Appalachian Trail and canoe trips to Canada where he and the boys would portage and paddle the canoes across Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario. He made sure every boy in Troop 144 had a special medal made by Simons Bros. whenever they completed 100 miles of hiking on the Appalachian Trail. In the winter, he led his children sledding on a toboggan on the west course of Merion Golf Club and took them skating at Dove Lake in Gladwyne, where they would wait patiently while he skated around the lake with a shovel to clear the snow and check to make sure it was safe to skate on. He spent years humanely catching squirrels in his yard and attic and trying to relocate them "across water," which he was convinced would keep them from returning. He started spray-painting stripes on the squirrels to test the theory. Easters would bring chicks and ducklings which would roost under the dining room table and the children would take care of until they could be released on the Haverford College pond. He and Mary would pack their station wagon with all seven children and head to the shore every summer. One 4th of July he led the kids to the beach to set off fireworks and when the police arrived before the smoke had cleared he said he didnt know anything about it. Nelson did, however, know how to live the life he wanted to live. He showed up to everything, loved his work, loved his family, and loved Mary McCaffery Keyser entirely. He is now again with Mary, as well as with his parents, sister Mary Elizabeth Keyser, son Gregory P. Keyser, and legions of friends who predeceased him. He is survived by his children, Mary Jane Keyser, Henry Nelson Keyser III (Mary Ellen), Susan Keyser, Stephen J. Keyser, Michael J. Keyser (Catherine) and Virginia Keyser (Stephen Gibson), daughter-in-law Katherine, ten grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and many extended family members whom he loved dearly. His Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 AM Thursday July 2, in St. Matthias Church, Bryn Mawr Ave, Bala Cynwyd, Pa. Interment is in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken, Pa. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Maryknoll Sisters, PO Box 317, Maryknoll, NY 10545. Funeral Home: Stretch Funeral Home 236 East Eagle Rd. Havertown, PA US 19083