Nels Hackert

Nels Axel Hackert Born August 11, 1936 Died September 24, 2022 Our beloved Nels was born to Anna and Axel Hackert in Brooklyn, New York, on August 11, 1936. The Great Depression eventually led Nels’ family to settle in Detroit, on Sussex Street and then Avon Street. His parents were hard workers, Axel a Tool & Die Supervisor at Ford Motor Company and Anna a salesperson at S.S. Kresge’s; for a couple years his mom walked two miles each way to her job until they could afford a second car. He was soon joined by his baby sister, Jo-Ann (Smith), born February 9, 1939. Nels was an active child, playing baseball and ice hockey in local parks. He had a newspaper route and often recruited his sister to help. He was a lifelong fan of the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Lions, in good and bad years. Nels and Jo-Ann would take the bus to Detroit Tiger games, with a pit stop at the Vernor’s factory on Woodward Avenue. He went on to graduate from Redford High School, where he was a member of the local ROTC. While earning his Bachelors of Science at Wayne State University, he met, dated and married a charming teller at the National Bank of Detroit, Joan Marie (McMahon). After completing his MBA at University of Detroit, Nels was commissioned as a Captain in the US Air Force. Nels and Joan headed west to Tinker Air Force Base outside of Oklahoma City and eventually a second posting outside of Kansas City. After being honorably discharged from the Air Force, Nels and Joan returned to Michigan, first renting a house near Lola Valley in Redford, then buying their own house in Livonia on Linda Avenue. Nels’ career spanned from the National Bank of Detroit, Chrysler Finance, Chrysler Human Resources, retiring in 1995 as an Assistant Vice President, Financial Consultant, at Merrill Lynch. Nels’ adult life was full of family, friends, service, worship, sports and travel. He was a beloved husband of the late Joan Marie. He was the loving father of Paul (Pamela), David, Michael (Lisa), Mary (John) Haas and Kevin (Denise). He dearly loved his 9 grandchildren - Eric, Darcy, Sarah, Lauren, Daniel, Ryan, Alexander, Derek and Andrew. You could tell that his family was his pride and joy. Nels was a volunteer for the Junior Achievement organization and a long time Usher and Eucharistic Minister at St. Genevieve Church in Livonia. He made many life long usher friends and loved joining their weekly golf rounds at San Marino, Fox Hills, and Salem Hills. Nels enjoyed playing ice hockey until he was 75 years old, making so many so many friends in beer leagues. Besides golf and ice hockey, Nels also loved to fish. His favorite fishing spots ranged from Houghton and Higgins Lake in Northern Michigan, to saltwater fishing off the piers in Ft. Desoto, Florida, to fly fishing in Colorado and Ireland. Nels was also an avid reader and enjoyed learning about history. Nels and Joan loved to travel. Travel in their early years of marriage while raising their family was typically northern Michigan in the summer and Florida (especially Ft. Desoto State Park) for Spring Break. Nels always delighted winning Merrill Lynch contests, expanding their travels to the East coast and Colorado. Nels and Joan loved to travel with a trailer to experience nature and would take long cross-country road trips in their retirement years, including Alaska and Nova Scotia. They also had once in a lifetime trips to Hawaii (with their life long friends Jerry and Barb Glowski) and Ireland. Nels will be missed by so many, but reunited in heaven with the love of his life, Joan. Visitation will be held at the R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Home, 15451 Farmington Rd., Livonia, Thursday from 5PM until 9PM with a Scripture Service at 7 PM. In state at St. Genevieve - St. Maurice Catholic Church, 29015 Jamison, Livonia, at 10:30 PM until Funeral Mass at 11:00PM. Please share a memory of Nels on his tribute wall.