Whitefish civic leader and trekking guide, Don Nelson, dies at 69

Don Nelson had a passion for his hometown of Whitefish and a deep connection to the people and culture of Nepal.

Nelson was a co-owner of Nelson’s Ace Hardware for nearly 30 years before forging a different career leading tours to the Himalayan region of Central Asia. The well-known civic leader passed away Feb. 17 at the age of 69.

Sister-in-law, Marilyn Nelson, remembered Don as someone who loved meeting people and serving as a conduit between the cultures of Central Asia and Montana.

“He had a diverse life centered around service,” she said. “He shared his gifts and knowledge with people.”

Nelson is survived by daughter, Jennifer Golan, and son, Chris Nelson, along with four grandchildren.

The Nelson family moved to Whitefish in late 1947, purchasing the downtown hardware store that they continue to own today. The family, which also included brother Rick and sisters Yvonne and Lana, lived in an apartment above the store.

Don eventually sold his portion of the business to Rick and Marilyn in 2005 several years after his first trip to Nepal.

“His heart was changed after that trip,” Rick recalled. “That was what he wanted to do. After that his heart wasn’t in selling nuts and bolts.”

NELSON GRADUATED from Whitefish High School in 1965 and attended Concordia College before entering the U.S. Naval Air Force. He returned to Whitefish to join the family hardware business in 1974.

Nelson had his first experience with travel when he took in a great deal of Europe in his years as a Naval officer in the 1970s. He took his first trip to Nepal in 1997 and eventually began operating Going-to-the-Sun Trekking from Whitefish.

He led an average of two tips per year to the Himalayan region in Nepal, Sikkim, Tibet, Bhutan and Burma providing trekking, cultural and spiritual adventures.

Through his travels, Nelson became an accomplished photographer. When he returned home he would hold photography shows to benefit Nepal. He raised funds for the nonprofit Children of Kathmandu and personally supported a Nepali boy from roughly age 5 through his completion of technical school.

When a devastating earthquake hit Nepal in 2015, killing nearly 9,000 people, Nelson was there and immediately put his skills in wilderness first aid to use. He would also later raise funds to support efforts to rebuild the country following the earthquake.

At home, Nelson spent time skinning up Big Mountain and hiking peaks in Glacier National Park. Last summer he volunteered as a backcountry ranger in Glacier Park.

Rick got the chance to hike out with his brother to watch him work.

“What impressed me was his ability to walk up to campers and ask for their permit in a way that wasn’t authoritarian,” Rick said. “You could tell he enjoyed that and sharing his knowledge of Glacier.”

NELSON MADE it a priority to give back to Whitefish, serving on the Whitefish City Council for four years and was a founding member of the Heart of Whitefish merchants group when it began in 2001.

Former Whitefish Mayor Mike Jenson recalls serving with Nelson.

“He was my go-to guy,” Jenson said. “When I needed a motion for action I could count on him.”

Rhonda Fitzgerald, who worked with Nelson in those early years of the Heart of Whitefish, says he was instrumental in driving the creation of a downtown master plan for Whitefish.

“It was his idea,” she said.

Nelson along with the other business owners he brought on board, she noted, got the project moving to create a guide for the future development of downtown.

“He was the force behind it,” Fitzgerald said.

At the time, Whitefish was largely at a crossroads. Many downtown shops had boarded up windows and businesses were beginning to move away from the downtown core.

Fitzgerald recalls that Nelson had a different vision for Whitefish that could put the downtown at the center of a vibrant economy.

Marilyn Nelson said the hardware store suffered at the time because of his political activeness, but it was worth it in planning for the future of Whitefish.

“We still have a vibrant Whitefish because of that forward thinking,” she said. “He looked at the long term and we wouldn’t be where we are if he hadn’t done that.”

Nelson told the Daily Inter Lake in a 2013 interview that his forays to the other side of the world only increased his love of home.

“Whitefish remains the best place in the world as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “I love to come back here, and I love to travel. The ability to compare to what we have here is invaluable.”

A memorial service will be held at the Continental Divide room at Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26.