Fred Ardell Nation was a marvel at fixing mechanical equipment including forklift trucks and gained a legendary reputation in his service area.

Nation worked until a year ago and died on 21 March at age 83.

"Fred was an exceptional person who could make or do anything," longtime acquaintance Howard Eiffert recalls.

Nation made fittings for hydraulic lines, was a good welder and, as needed, created wrenches with a setting at 45 and 90 degrees.

In 1970, an Earth City, Missouri facility of MH Equipment, a Hyster dealer, assigned Nation to establish a forklift service presence serving the Columbia market in the middle of the state.

"They sent Fred out here, and he went all over the state, into Oklahoma and elsewhere in the mid-west," Eiffert says.

That employment ended in 1987 when MH closed the Columbia operation, and Nation opted to establish his own forklift repair business.

In becoming an independent tradesman, "Fred had the tools and equipment and routinely worked out of his truck", he notes. "He did not have a building. He went to the customers in any weather. Everybody loved it. He knew what he was doing, and he was reasonable."

The Callaway nuclear power plant near Fulton, Missouri was among places where he provided service.

His skill and proximity, on occasion, prompted former employer MH to call Nation for a work assignment in his area.

Nation was "right there on the spot quickly because he knew how important forklifts are to a business", Eiffert recalls. "I was frustrated before Fred came to town. I could not get someone who knew anything. He solved that problem."

Nation tried retiring at age 65, but he was restless and, from 1 January 1994, began applying his skills three days a week at Eiffert's business, Boone County Lumber Co in Columbia. Nation stayed with the lumber company until March 2011.

Nation died at the Crystal Oaks skilled nursing facility in Crystal City, Missouri.

A memorial gathering took place 24 March, and a celebration of life service is planned at 11 am on 7 April at the First Christian Church - Disciples of Christ in Hematite, Missouri.

Survivors include his wife Darlene; daughters Brenda Smelser and Shellie Roberts; three grandchildren and four great-grandsons. He was a member of the Fraternal Order of the Eagles.

Memorials may be made to the Community Treatment Inc (COMTREA) shelter for abused women and their children, known as A Safe Place.

Vinyard Funeral Home in Festus, Missouri handled the arrangements.