Richard A. Nelson (1938-2024)

Richard A. Nelson, 85, passed away on January 23, 2024. Born on August 26, 1938, in Rockford, IL, Dick was the only son of five children. After graduating from Rockford East High School in 1956, he was proud to be the first of his family to attend college.

Dick earned BS and MS degrees at Northern Illinois University (NIU), where he maintained strong ties to Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. In 1976, he received a PhD in educational administration with a focus in journalism from the UW-Madison.

After a nine-month courtship in 1963, Dick married Janice Clausing, the sister-in-law of fraternity brother Andy Anderson. Their children were Jennifer, born in 1968, and Kyle, born in 1970. Janice died on August 5, 1988, weeks after the couple celebrated their 25th anniversary. They lived in Arlington Heights, IL, Ft. Atkinson, WI, and St. Charles, IL.

Dick was the second person to graduate from NIU with a journalism major, then taught journalism and English in Belvidere H.S. and in Arlington Heights, before serving as the head of the journalism department at the UW-Whitewater. Fifty years ago, he founded the Kettle Moraine Press Association for Wisconsin high school newspaper and yearbook advisers.

In Ft. Atkinson, he was elected to the Board of Education and church council at Trinity Lutheran Church, and served as chair of the United Way and Am. Field Service committees.

In 1981, Dick worked at the American Medical Association, Chicago, at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). He later worked at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital, Wheaton, and started a successful consulting business in the field of residency accreditation for teaching hospitals throughout the country.

Preceding him in death were his mother Lucinda Hodges, wife Janice Nelson, and sisters, Betty (Lawrence) Veitch, Deanna (Carl) Barconi, Sharron (Edward) Haighwood, and Georgia (Lawrence) Johnson. Survivors are his daughter Jennifer; his son Kyle (Ashley), grandson Jackson; his former wife Maureen Nelson; and German foreign exchange daughter Agnes. 

Dick wrote a memoir about growing up poor, then being driven to earn advanced degrees and seek successful careers. The memoir also covers his shocking DNA results revealing that he was Sicilian, not Swedish as he had been raised.

Travel was a centerpiece in his life. Within the US, vacations in Florida have been highest on his list, along with visits to the East Coast to join members of his beloved Foodie Group.

The memorial service will be at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 515 South Wheaton Avenue, Wheaton, at 11 am, on Saturday, February 24. Donations may be made to Gilda’s Club, 537 North Wells Street, Chicago, IL 60654.

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