This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Nelson, Phillips, Stevens, Riedel, Truesdill, Ritter, Stubbs, Hawksford, Tewes, Weekes Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/3FC.2ACI/2435 Message Board Post: Thursday, July 31, 2003 Charles R. Nelson, 78 Charles Richard “Chuck” Nelson, 78, of Hudson died Friday, July 25, at Hudson Hospital. He was born Aug. 4, 1924, in Kansas City, Mo., the son of Chester and Nellie Mae (Phillips) Nelson. When he was four years old the family moved to the River Falls area where his father and grandfather operated the River Falls Times newspaper. He attended grade school in River Falls, graduated from River Falls High School in the class of 1942 and furthered his education at River Falls State Teachers College (now University of Wisconsin-River Falls). He enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was assigned to the USS Princeton and served aboard this aircraft carrier until his discharge in March 1946. He was recalled to active duty in September 1950 by the Naval Reserve during the Korean Conflict and served 17 months at the Naval Air Station in Barbers Point, Hawaii. On Sept. 4, 1947, he was married to Rita Ann Stevens in Hastings, Minn. They lived in River Falls until 1955, when they moved to Hudson to make their home. He was employed by the Andersen Corp. in Bayport from 1952 until his retirement in 1985 after 33 years of service and was a member of the prestigious Quarter Century Club. As an avid hobbyist, he built power speed boats and later constructed model railroads. During this time he also became interested in building radio-control model airplanes to scale from scratch. He built several exceptional models, one of which was the flying “Jenny” that was placed in the Lindbergh Museum in Little Falls, Minn. He spent 1,500 hours creating the model from photos and precise measuring from the original. He received many honors in this hobby. He won sixth place in 1973 at the National Model Airplane Championship in Oshkosh; second place in 1976 in Dayton, Ohio, in radio control AMA (museum) scale, missing first place by six points; and in 1977 took first-place honors in Toledo, Ohio, in the military scale competition. He was a member of the Sodbuster’s Club and was an active member of the Boy Scouts and a Webelo instructor. Surviving are two daughters, Joyce (Gary) Riedel of Hudson and Jane (Ronald) Truesdill of River Falls; five sons, Richard (Sandy) Nelson and Gerald (Faye) Nelson, both of Hudson, James (Maria) Nelson of New Richmond, David (Bobbi) Nelson of Edina, Minn., and Dennis Nelson of Auke Bay, Alaska; eight grandchildren, John Riedel, Andrea Riedel, Erich Riedel, Angela Ritter, Chandelle Nelson, Katie Stubbs, Rachel Truesdill and Adam Truesdill; a sister, Catherine (Robert) Hawksford of Hudson; and a brother, Gordon (Joan) Nelson of Manitowoc. Preceding him in death were his parents; his wife, Rita, in 1983; and a brother, Stewart Nelson. Funeral services were at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 27, at Bethel Lutheran Church in Hudson with Pastors Dennis Nelson and Mark Tewes officiating and Monica Weekes playing organ. Burial was in St. Patrick’s Cemetery. Visitation was one hour prior to the service at the church. Memorials are preferred. The O’Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson was in charge of arrangements. © 2003 Hudson Star-Observer - Reposted by permission http://hudsonstarobserver.1upsites.com/Main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=54&ArticleID=8217