Patricia Dawn NELSON
Patricia Dawn Nelson (Dawn) of Edmonton AB passed away on Monday May 25, 2026. After a 7-month battle with cancer she went peacefully with her husband, Kevin McCoy, at her side.
Dawn was born on July 15, 1960, in Calgary. She was raised in Drayton Valley and Grande Prairie before making her way to Edmonton. Dawn was predeceased by her parents Lorne and Merna Nelson. She will be remembered by her brothers Scott, Ritchie (Vicky), Jeff (Diane) and her nieces and nephews Curtis, Justin, Riley, Brittany, Jordan and Tierney. She also leaves behind cherished in-laws, good friends and many people whose lives she touched both personally and professionally.
Honouring Dawn’s wishes, no formal service will be held.
Please accept our deepest condolences, I hope you find comfort in the love and memories you shared. Rachel & Mike
Too my desrest friend. U will be missed so much. No words can express what u have meant to me over decades. The fun, the laughter, the abuse of what I eat…lol….
Warm up your game, see u again oneday.
😘
Lost a special and courageous lady far too soon. Our deepest condolences Kevin and family. May she now rest in peace. Perry and Sandy.
So sorry for your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Brent and Pat
My condolences on your loss.
I was a colleague of Dawn’s at Xerox. Although I worked in Ottawa, I had the pleasure of attending many training events with Dawn over the years. Whether she was sharing her knowledge or friendship, it was always a positive experience having Dawn there.
She was taken too soon.
I was a colleague of Dawn’s at Xerox and worked with her on colour printers. Her knowledge was encyclopedic and I learned so much from her. She was a special person. My condolences to all her family and friends.
Ah Dawn, we will miss you on the golf course. You were a good friend.
When I met Dawn I was selling typesetting systems for AM International, Varityper Division in Edmonton. She was working for a printshop as a graphic artist and a typesetting operator.
The company purchased a new PC based system (Signature) from us and got Dawn to run it. To my memory it was a code-based system and Dawn turned out superior work on it. I only sold one of those systems.
We needed a new MSR (Market Support Rep) so I invited Dawn in for an interview with Bill Anderson, (Western Regional Manager) and myself.
It was obvious that Dawn wanted this job really bad. She was quite nervous and was struggling to respond with the right answers to ensure we were going to hire her.
Near the end of the interview, Bill & I looked at each other and knew she was the one.
Bill finally said: “We have one last question Dawn, then we will let you know next week.”
“Do you drink Rum & Coke?” (at that time, that was the common drink for the sales force).
Dawn said: “Ahhhh no, but I can learn.”
“Well then, you are hired!” Bill said.
That started a successful run with Varityper and later with Xerox.
To my knowledge she never learned to drink Rum & Coke, but we overlooked that as our business blossomed with her help.
She was one of a kind and hopefully resting easy now after such a tough year.
Working as a 100% commission salesperson, it was always worrisome leaving for holidays. Dawn’s job was to train customers and to assist sales people in selling our equipment, but she always took care of my prospects while I was away. It allowed me to relax on holidays knowing Dawn was taking care of business.
Dawn was a quick study with our new equipment coming out every 90 to 120 days. She would dive into the manuals and then wanted to rewrite them once she learned how to operate the systems.
Dawn became well known right across Canada for her ability to trouble shoot problems with operators or software. It was not unusual for Head Office in Toronto to request Dawn’s help with a problem with a customer in eastern Canada, even though she was an Alberta Market Support Representative.
With Dawn on our team we became very successful in selling to and supporting our installations in Alberta. Sales people in eastern Canada would make comments when Alberta would outsell them by saying “ya, no wonder, they have Dawn”.
Dawn was my partner in our business and I attribute much of my success to her skilled technical support.
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A message from Bill Anderson, Western Regional Manager:
Hi Jim, Just got your message about Dawn and so sorry to hear that. Certainly brings back some nice memories. Your story about our interview with her was comical and certainly brings back some of those good memories. May she rest in peace. Regards, Bill
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A message from Glen Cowell, National Marketing Manager for Varityper Division:
Hi Jim, Very sorry to hear about Dawn. A great MSR and co worker. We enjoyed great times traveling across the west with lots of laughs and as mentioned a few rum and cokes. She bailed us out many times and always fun to have on our Varityper team. Memories are good.
Regards Glen Cowell
Dear Kevin. We just found out about Dawn’s passing and we are so sorry to hear this. Dawn was a special person who seemed to bring out the best in others. She was very giving and always seemed to be smiling. Our hearts are with you.