Dan S. Nelson, 99

Longtime Montana resident Dan S. Nelson passed away on Feb. 9, 2014, at the age of 99.

Dan was born in Missoula on June 27, 1914, and resided there until the beginning of World War II.

After graduating from the University of Montana in 1940 with a degree in forestry and an Army ROTC commission, he met his future wife Junia L. Benedict while working as a seasonal ranger in Yellowstone National Park. They were married on Sept. 11, 1940, in the Chapel of Transfiguration near Grand Teton National Park in Moose, Wyo.

Dan had served as a second lieutenant in the 11th Horse Cavalry at the Presidio of Monterey in California in 1937 and 1938 on Reserve Duty status. In 1941 he reported to the First Armored Division at Fort Knox, Ky. His Army career took him to England, then to the invasion of North Africa to Tunis, the Anzio Beachhead in Italy, the capture of Rome and the Po Valley. He returned to the U.S. in 1945 and was released from service in 1946 as a major.

After spending 25 years in the Park Service (Yellowstone, Yosemite and Glacier Parks) he retired in Kalispell in 1970. In 2009 he and Junia moved to Porter Place Retirement Center in Denver.

He is survived by his wife of 74 years and their three sons, Barry and Nancy, Toby and Jeannette, and Ray and Denise; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.