LaVern Carrol Nelson

LaVern Carrol Nelson (Vern) passed from this life on December 14, 2018 in Greeley, CO, after many years of congenital heart failure. Vern was born near Julesburg, Colorado in Nebraska, adjacent to the state line. It was there he grew up, went to grade school close by in Colorado, with eight grades in a one room school. Then to high school in Julesburg and later moving to Loveland, CO during his junior year and graduated from high school in 1944.

Vern was a product of the great depression years of the 1930’s. That’s when he learned the need to be dependable, resourceful, and frugal. He grew up on a dryland farm on both sides of the state line between Julesburg, CO and Big Springs, Nebraska on the banks of the South Platte River. He learned that often there were no choices – the cows had to be milked morning and evening every day, that the animals had to be fed daily, and that the fields had to be plowed, the crops tended and harvested all at the appropriate time each year. He became resourceful through the teaching of his parents, long since passed on and buried in Loveland, CO. He learned to harness the horses as needed, to ride horses under any conditions – with and without saddles, to fix the fences, to butcher animals, and to handle crops for the family, to separate milk and cream, to make butter, to repair machinery, and among other farm operation things, to put new rings on the pistons of a 2 cylinder John Deere tractor.

It was during this time, in the 1930’s, that Vern became focused on becoming an engineer. From the patio of his family’s farm house on the south bank of the river, he could watch the trains on the north side of the river, on the Union Pacific main line being pulled by the majestic steam engines of those times. He was fascinated by the power emulated and what it took to make the train go. He learned that an engineer and vowed then to become an engineer – a guy that runs the train! Little did he know that an engineer was so much more than just the guy that runs the train. However, throughout his education he focused on engineering related matters and he became proficient in mathematics, physics, and other engineering learning.

It was in Loveland during his junior year of high school, that he found his future wife, Bettie Kiesling, where they had their first date. It was to the Junior-Senior prom. It must have been love at first sight, for some 4 years later in 1947, they were to be married. To the time of his death, they remained together through love, respect, and mutual understanding.

At the time of high school graduation, it was wartime, WWII. Vern enlisted in the U.S. Navy Air Corps, and entered active duty on July 17, 1945, 70 days after VE day and 28 days before VJ day. During the service, he attended college at Swarthmore, in Swarthmore, a suburb of Philadelphia. That time included trips to New York City with his roommate who lived with his family on Long Island. One of those trips included attending the long running Broadway show Carousel, a highlight of his life.

After Swarthmore, he was sent to the Great Lakes Training station in North Chicago. His sole duty there was to sing in the Bluejackets choir at many events in the Chicago area. One of those events was to sing in the choir at Soldiers Field to celebrate the release of General Wainwright from 5 years of prison in Japan.

Following the Chicago stint, he was sent to Washington, D.C., to work in the U.S. Navy Annex next to the Pentagon. His duties were to proofread citation as they were typed by other sailors. Sightseeing there included a pleasure cruise down the Potomac, the only boat ride of his naval career. He was discharged from active service on July 26, 1946 at Bainbridge, Maryland.

After military service, he worked at different jobs, and on August 10, 1947, he married Bettie Kiesling, his high school sweetheart. They lived in Julesburg, CO for a few years; Vern as a mail carrier and then the Soil Conservation Service, and Bettie was a secretary for an attorney. While with the SCS, Vern was transferred to Brighton, CO. While there, Bettie worked at Kuner-Empson Co. and Vern attended night school at CU extension. After a few years, they moved to Ft. Collins, CO where Vern attended then Colorado A & M College, now Colorado State University, and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering with emphasis on water. During that time, Bettie served as secretary to the Dean of Home Economics. Upon Vern’s graduation in January, 1954, they moved to Greeley where Vern began his career in consulting engineering as an employee of Harold Hoskins & Assoc. of Lincoln, Nebraska, working in their Greeley, CO office, and Bettie, a graduate of Colorado Woman’s College, completed her 4-year degree in business at the University of Northern Colorado.

After five years with the Hoskins company of gaining productive experience in the field of consulting engineering, Vern joined three other progressive and young engineers from the Hoskins office, to create in the spring of 1959, the consulting firm of NHPQ, that is Nelson, Haley, Patterson, and Quirk. After a somewhat shaky start, but with financial and legal help from trusting and respectable people, the foursome built one of the most prestigious and well known organizations in the consulting engineering business in Colorado. Known as the Four Horsemen, the company provided services in planning, financing, design and construction inspection for a multitude of projects for municipalities, districts, county, state, and federal agencies as well as for many private companies. The company continued to grow and prosper for some seventeen years, at which time the company was sold and each partner went his own way.

Vern then began real estate including developing, with partners, property in Dillon, CO into a small convenience center which included a gas station, convenience store, ski rental shop and a liquor store. He and his partners continued to operate and manage that facility successfully for the next 25 years, at which time the business and property was sold. During that time, he created his solely owned consulting engineering company in 1979, Nelson Engineers, to provide consulting, design and management service for various engineering projects. This activity continued for 16 years, until April, 1995, when he sold that successful business with the plan to retire from the engineering business, which he did. However, his friends urged him to run for Mayor of Greeley. He finally agree, put his name on the ballot and was elected in the fall of 1995. He served two successful terms, after which he retired in 1999. One of the many highlights of that service was to testify before a House of Representatives committee at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on the subject of water use and its availability in the west and specifically in the Poudre River drainage area.

During his many years in the consulting engineering business, Vern was active in state and national associations, namely the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Professional Engineers of Colorado (PEC). He served on numerous professional committees and as the vice-president of the PEC.

Since the time of business activity and serving as the Mayor of Greeley, he has enjoyed quiet retirement with his wife, Bettie, in Greeley. Vern was also an accomplished photographer, and he and Bettie enjoyed travel, golf, much of it at the Greeley Country Club, and playing bridge with friends.

Vern is survived by his wife, Bettie, his son Scott and wife Karen, his grandchildren, Lyza (Alex) Verosky and Sawyer Verosky, and many relatives and friends.

Vern is preceded in death by his daughter Carrol Nelson Nuhn, his brother Dallas, his sister Doris, and his parents Walter and Serena Nelson, and many relatives.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Poudre Learning Center or the Rotary Club Foundation in care of Allnutt Funeral Service, 703 13th Street, Greeley, CO 80631.