Nelson L. Domacassé

76 yrs ago, Nelson was born in the Dutch Antilles on the island of Curaçao in the capital of Willemstad and educated there through college earning an associate’s degree in Arts and Languages. He began work in the Flamboyant Sands hotel in Willemstad which subsequently sold to Curaçao Hilton until he changed to the Intercontinental Hotel. An opportunity to handle food supply for the cruise ships fueled his love of languages. His application to the Cornell University program for Hotel and Restaurant Management was accepted so he was off to the United States for his first visit. After graduation he accepted a position as Manager with the Sheraton Hotel in Venezuela where he oversaw 75 employees and taught them English to be able to read the menu for guests.

His first of 3 Heimlich maneuver saves was a young boy in Venezuela and the Lebanese furniture businessman father introduced him to Rotary International. On to New Jersey and a couple of Holiday Inn stints in Food and Beverage and then he accepted the position of assistant to the Executive Dining Room Mgr for Johnson and Johnson. When they downsized, he found himself capable of working in a variety of food operations with both front of the house and back of the house experience until Las Vegas and Nevada presented change and opportunities. In both Venezuela and Las Vegas he owned cafes and offered catering. He was the dining room and coffee shop manager for the Primm Casino and was asked to demo for a chef position at the Bellagio. Then he found retirement regimes and was the dining room Mgr for a $1M buy-in CCRC until it sold. Thereafter, he managed the restaurant for a smaller chain of senior living quarters and helped start other location dining rooms for them.

Along the way he fathered a wonderful son, Adis, who lives in Amsterdam. In 2005, he met and married Lindsay Sinn, taking a gamble in Las Vegas that brought love, laughter, travel, service and life for both of them. Both lost their jobs in the 2008 economic downturn. They subsequently moved to San Antonio where Lindsay found work and Nelson marketed his famous Heaven’s Seasoning while also caring for his mother-in-law.

In 2018, searching for a CCRC, Lindsay found ACTS online. Knowing a smaller town could keep them independent longer, they flew to Vero Beach to view IRE and never looked back. Nelson became active with his congas and bongos in Choristers and chapel, started and ran a weekend free bar for residents to meet and socialize plus spearheading the AB 3rd floor Sunday evening parties, set up for quarterly potlucks, obliged bartending for anniversaries, memorials, birthdays, special occasions when asked and was in general an all-around good guy. He was his nephrologist’s poster child for peritoneal dialysis, doing so well for all these years.

Battling several health issues, Nelson opted to enter hospice on Jan 22, 2025, and died at peace with the Lord and peacefully at home on Feb 7, 2025.

He is survived by his son Adis, wife Lindsay, niece Kirstin Woods, grandniece Kynja Woods, sister-in-law Karlon Sinn, nephew Germaine Domacassé and cousins in California and Bonaire.

Arrangements are by Thomas S. Lowther Funeral Home & Crematory, Vero Beach.