Ken Nelson

Raymond John Nelson, 71, of Sunland, California died June 4, 2010 in Glendale, California of cancer after a short hospitalization.

He was born in Troy, New York to Victor and Mary Nelson of Watervliet, NY and attended St Patrick’s elementary school in Watervliet and LaSalle Institute, Troy where he was the Colonel of Cadets in the Class of 1957. He received a degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1961 in Troy, New York, and a Masters degree in Physics from the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in 1967.

He served fourteen years on active duty as a US Army signal officer including two years in the Vietnam War theater.  He was thereafter employed in engineering positions in several US defense firms before retiring in 1998. He was a life member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and was also a student of American history focusing on the American West 1800-1850.

He is survived by his brother Carl Nelson of Washington, DC, by two nephews in Utah and California, and by two cousins in the Capital District of New York. Interment is planned in the US National Cemetery in Riverside, California near where he lived since 1980.

Burial will be at Riverside National Cemetery, with full military honors, on Tuesday June 15, 2010 at 1230PM.

A viewing/memorial will be held Monday, June 14 between 5-8PM at Crippen Mortuary, 2900 Honolulu Avenue, La Crescenta, CA.

Contact Ken Nelson, kn@kennelson.com, for details or questions.

More pictures of Ray, through out his life, can be seen in this online album.