John Page Nelson, beloved brother, friend, colleague, and neighbor, left this world on Saturday, May 12 after a valiant battle with cancer.

John was born in Wantagh, New York in 1958, later moving to West Islip, where he attended St. John the Baptist High School. Like his father, Robert Page Nelson, he studied engineering, graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1979.  He moved to Massachusetts that year, living first in Acton and, since 2011, in Lexington.

Through John's long career at GenRad, later acquired by Teradyne, his incisive intellect and unparalleled problem solving contributed to many technical breakthroughs in the field of automated testing. John had fun at work. As a mentor, his enthusiasm and intellectual rigor shaped an entire generation of engineers at Teradyne.

John was a skilled and savvy gamer, in his element at a live poker tournament as well as in online gaming. He loved science fiction, including going to SciFi conventions. John greatly enjoyed electronics, reading, cooking, gardening, walking, and just about anything else.

John's gentleness, consideration and great sense of humor touched all who knew him.

John is survived by his three sisters: Linda Nelson of Lexington, MA, Dorothy Nelson of San Jose, CA and Madeline Nelson of Brooklyn, NY. His sisters share John's gratitude for the wonderful team at Lahey Hospital, who helped make his quality of life the best it could be through his years of treatment.

Visiting hours will be held at Douglass Funeral Home in Lexington, MA on Thursday, May 24, from 5pm to 7pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to be made in John's memory to The Greater Boston Food Bank.