Kenneth Junior Nelson, 78

Kenneth Junior Nelson, 78, died on March 24, 2005, in Tucson, after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer.

Ken was born in Oakes, N.D., on Oct. 18, 1926, to Alice and Otto Nelson. He was the youngest of eight children. He attended schools in Oakes and graduated from Oakes High School in 1946.

Ken joined the Navy and completed his basic training in Farragut, Idaho. He transferred to Bainbridge Island, Wash., and was honorably discharged in 1946. He then returned to Oakes and built houses with his father.

In 1947, he moved to Kalispell to work for Mills Lumber Company. There he met and married Dorothy Ann Linrude on June 30, 1948. To this union was born three children.

In 1951 he became an electrician for the Mountain States Power Company on the line crew. He was a construction electrician on many projects including Hungry Horse Dam and the Anaconda Aluminum Plant. In 1956 he became a residential electrician for Ferguson Electric until semi-retiring in 1980. He then worked for Kalispell Electric part-time until he fully retired in 1987.

Ken was baptized in the Lutheran Church in Oakes and became a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in 1948. He also attended the Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Tucson.

Ken belonged to many organizations including the Elks Club as a lifetime member, Buffalo Hills Golf Association, 49'ers Golf Association in Tucson, and the Electrical Workers Union.

During his younger years he loved to bowl and then for many years played softball. He was the catcher and Bob Engelbach was the pitcher. Their team won lots of games in town and around the state. He loved to hunt and fish. His memorable fishing trips were to the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Many summers were spent at their cabin on Bitterroot Lake. He then learned to golf, and that took over his life. He golfed wherever he went. Since 1980, summers were spent in Kalispell and winters in Tucson. He and his wife loved to travel and visited 48 states and many foreign countries.

He was a very good father and grandfather. He loved attending all his grandkids' games and activities.

In Tucson, Ken volunteered at the VA Hospital, the PGA Golf Tournament and the LPGA Golf Tournaments for 25 years.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Otto and Alice Nelson; one daughter, Judith Ann; three brothers, Hjalmer, Emil and Harold Nelson; and two sisters, Esther Nelson and Ellen Lyngen.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Dorothy; daughter, Cynthia Wright and her husband, Clinton, of Tucson; son, Keith and his wife, Julie, of Edgewood, Wash.; two granddaughters, Courtney Wright Castoro and her husband, Mike, of Tucson, and Kailey Nelson of Spokane; two grandsons, Kyle Wright of Tucson and Kyle Nelson of Edgewood; brother, Willis Nelson and his wife, Nelma, of Oakes; and sister, Ollie Durand and her husband, Oliver, of Oakes; and many nieces and nephews.

A service will be held in Kalispell at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church the first week in June. Definite date and time will be announced later.

In lieu of flowers a memorial to Carondelet Hospice Service, 1802 West St. Marys Road, Tucson, AZ 85745.