Cool as a cucumber, my cousin Wirt Nelson, out for a drive in his 1954 Cadillac in the mountains of Southern California in the early 1960s. Wirt leans in movie star quality in front of the Tip Top Tavern. Photo was taken by Wirt's wife Olga Mary Venegas Nelson. Big thanks to their son Ken Nelson for passing this beauty on to me.

Wirt started with Heath and Company in Southern California in 1959. Working with Heath for many years, they designed, engineered, assembled and installed a multitude of neon signage and sign lettering nationwide. Some of their clients were Bank of America, Dennys, Kentucky Fried Chicken (the rotating bucket), Marie Calenders and Norm's Restaurants. The writer Charles Bukowski, the quintessential undisputed underground Los Angeles poet /writer, invariably was cast in their red neon glow on his many visits to Norm's in Hollywood.

Raul Rodriguez was Heath's lead designer/artist for many years. In another angle of Rodriguez's career, he was a champion float maker starting at 15 years old, when he designed his first Rose Parade float for the city of Whittier and took home a trophy. He went on to design at least 500 floats and won multiple awards.

Heath's reputation for designs borne from months of research and executed with stunning levels of detail, are still in existence and shining brightly. In the late 1970s, the company designed the iconic pink neon facade of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas and the 22-story clown that adorns the front of Reno's Circus Circus hotel and casino. Below is an attached photo of the Flamingo.

Wirt is the son of Roma Mary (Wirt - Summers) & Sture Albin Nelson. My Aunt Roma was real deal old school and a sweet gal. I recall many enjoyable Thanksgiving dinners and Easter dinners at her place or at her daughter Jean (Fort) Nelson's home in Alhambra, California. Lots of Jean, Wirt or his brother, Bob Nelson's kids around, and fun to be with Nelson Family back then.

Photograph of Roma by Sture was taken in 1935. The photo of Sture was shot in 1940.

Roma M. Wirt Summers was born on August 7th, 1901 in Saybrook, McLean County, Illinois. Roma passed on December 29th, 1992 in Alhambra, California. Roma was first married to Albert Edward Summers on August 31st, 1921 in the District of Columbia. Albert was born in 1901 in Washington, DC, and passed in 1942.

Roma married Sture Albin Nelson, son of Anders and Gertrude 'Gerda' (Miljander) Nelson on September 27th, 1930 in Lucas County, Ohio. Sture was born on May 2nd, 1896 in Landskrona, Skåne Län, Sweden. Sture served in the Navy during the First World War, and was a photographer. He worked for years at Eastman Kodak in Los Angeles. Sture passed on July 6th, 1974 in Los Angeles.