Maxwell Pierce Nelson

Max passed away on December 17, 2024. His family and friends would like to do a celebration of life for him, January 19th, 2025, at 613 W 500 N Layton Utah 84041 from 2 P.M. to 6 P.M. 

Max was as fierce as his full name states. He could be stubborn at times but in the best of ways. He could make a room full of people laugh at his dark humor, and he didn’t care how dark it was. 

Max had the best intentions when it came to his family and friends. When he was planning anything with his friends; a get together or floating the river, or just going out for dinner; he wanted all his friends/family there.

To start from the beginning, Max was always a character. When he was young, before video games, his imagination ran wild. He enjoyed playing with his action figures. He called them “his guys”, and he had to have a handful of his guys anywhere he went. Once he got into video games, he would hoard all the video games and gamer consoles so that the other siblings couldn’t play them. 

Max loved to play video games with all his brothers. He would play practically every night with his youngest brother, Sam Nelson. They would talk and play for hours with each other, sometimes even into the next morning when they both had to work in the next couple of hours. While Max and Sam talked through their headphones to each other, Max was the one to push Sam to get his first job. Asked him all the time, “Sam, when you gonna get a job? Make some money?” Max just wanted to make sure that Sam could take care of himself for the future. Max had his older brother, Joey Nelson, which he was close with as well while playing video games. He always made sure that Joey and Sam were in good spirits. Joey and Max always looked out for each other. Through the good and the bad times, they always found comfort in having each other’s backs. When they lived together at the family home, Joey would get home from work and almost always expect Max and his friends to be there and having a good time. Joey and Max would regularly sit outside well into the night and enjoy each other’s company by having some drinks and talking to each other about everything.

Max’s youngest sibling and the only girl, Makelle Nelson. Max adored Makelle from the beginning and all the way to the end. All the brothers have their own unique bond with Makelle. Max would tease Makelle all the time. Makelle thought of Max as a great example of what not to do, and yet as his little sister, she wanted to follow him on every adventure. When Makelle would hang out with Max and his friends, she not only felt like she was going to be traumatized but also made her feel like a really cool person. Makelle always felt that Max was her protector through all stages of her 18 years of life. When Makelle was little, Max would sing “Hey Good Lookin’” to her. It became their song. Once Makelle grew into her teens, she was able to bond with Max more. Max would always help her sneak out of the house, but the funny side of that story was that Makelle would help her dad lock all the windows and doors when Max would sneak out by himself. Max showed Makelle how to live, he created a new perspective of life for her. He encouraged her to explore, experience and find happiness in everything. Makelle and Max only fought about one thing, and that was who was in the bathroom the longest. Which was always Max. Makelle thought of Max as more than just a brother. He will forever be her Maximum Swagger and she will forever be his Mickle Stickle.

Some of the fondest memories, but also some of the darkest humor, were when they were all sitting on the couch with dad, Mike Nelson, and Grandpa Nelson. Grandpa Nelson is a veteran, and he would tell all the siblings some of the crazier stories while he served. Max was always so intrigued and asked Grandpa all sorts of different questions. Eventually, it would become very dark and everyone would just laugh because that is just the Nelson humor. You know you are a Nelson, when you can talk about darkness as humor. No wonder Max always called himself the Prince of Darkness. 

Once Max started to get into his teen years, boy was he a ladies man! When he was in junior high and high school, he was able to get the ladies that were attending college. He was just that type of guy. 

Making friends was also one of Max’s strong suites. He had friends that were double his age and half his age. It didn’t matter how old you were, he would try to make sure you were included in his life memories. All of the people that he impacted, looked to him as a leader. Max had this family that he started, called Wax Family. It included a whip, a stick of wax and a longboard. (If you know, you know.) Wax family lives on forever.

Getting to the end chapters of Max. He expressed that he was excited to get his past behind him and was looking to the future. His brother, Andrew Nelson, was a big impact at this time. Andrew and his wife, Taylor Idom, took Max into their home for a couple years. They showed him the ways of getting his past taken care of so that he could better himself for the future. Andrew helped him expunge his criminal record so that Max could get a job with him. Once Andrew was able to hire Max, Max seemed to be on the right track. Andrew would always praise Max for how fast and efficient he was, was even amazed sometimes. They would have ‘who is faster today’ competitions, Max won almost every time. Andrew was planning to eventually have Max take over his company, would talk about it occasionally. To say the least, Max and Andrew became very close. Andrew called him his best friend, best buddy, best employee and most important, his brother. 

Max was always looking for an adventure. Always looking for the next fun and/or dangerous thing to do. He loved going out in the middle of the night for a hike, or driving three hours away to go to some hot springs when he practically had some in his backyard. He was always busying himself and finding new things to entertain himself and included all of his best friends. 

Max has a beautiful soul, inside and out. Once you got to know the real him, he was goofy and very wholehearted. He made everyone laugh and he had one of the goofier true laughs. He may have dressed dark and showed his darkness on the outside but he was very sweet and thoughtful on the inside. We will forever miss you Maxwell Pierce Nelson. You are truly loved and always will be.

Max is survived by his Mother, Laini Hasna/Nelson; Father, Michael Nelson. Siblings: Andrew Nelson (brother), Taylor Idom (sister-in-law), Joseph Nelson (brother), Sam Nelson (brother), and Makelle Nelson (sister).