Merle Albin Nelson

After a lifetime of adventure, accomplishment, and service to our nation, former San Antonio resident Merle Albin Nelson passed away peacefully on 22 Dec 2020 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Merle was preceded in death by the love of his life, Madeleine, and is survived by sons Eric & Evan, Eric’s wife Lenora, and granddaughters Rita, Allison, and Emily.

Merle began his life journey on 13 Aug 1929 in Escanaba, Michigan, the only son of Andrew Albin Nelson and Ellen Marie Sivertsen. He grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan with his three sisters Eunice, Anita, and Adris. He earned a degree in electrical engineering in 1953 from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, serving as student manager and performer in the famed University of Michigan Glee Club during his student years.

After college, Merle was commissioned in the US Air Force as a pilot, finishing pilot training at Goodfellow AFB, Texas, in 1957. During 30 years of Air Force service Merle accumulated over 10,000 hours in multiple transport aircraft, notably training German aircrews to fly DC-6s, chasing Pacific typhoons in C-130s, flying the massive C-5 Galaxy, and flying diplomatic missions in the “Air Force One” 707 aircraft. He took great pride in flying the Apollo 13 crew back to Houston after their splash-down in the Pacific, and in accompanying Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Secretary of State William Rogers, and then-Governor Ronald Reagan on diplomatic missions to Africa, Hong Kong, Saigon, Pakistan, Kabul, Tehran, and Rome, among other exotic locales.

In Hawaii in 1963 Merle met the love of his life, Madeleine, and together they traveled the world and enjoyed assignments from Hawaii to Washington, DC to Guam, Alabama, California, Germany, and New Jersey. Following Madeleine’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Merle and Madeleine ultimately joined their son Eric and his young family in San Antonio, Texas, for 12 years after Merle retired from military service. Merle was able to indulge his lifelong love of singing as a member of the choir at the Church of Reconciliation and active member of the San Antonio Opera Guild. Following the loss of Madeleine in 2009 and a series of debilitating strokes in 2017, Merle moved to Colorado to be near his sons and granddaughters.

Merle will be quietly interred next to Madeleine at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, with a memorial service to follow at an undetermined date.