Odin Nielsen, a master stucco artist who worked on everything from the state Capitol to a well-known Coney Island hot dog stand, died Monday. He was 87.
A service for Nielsen is planned today at 11 a.m. at Bullock Mortuary, 1375 E. Hampden Ave., Englewood.
The Coney Island was his favorite project, and hot dogs will be on the menu at the buffet lunch after the service.
Nielsen had several jobs before founding Nielsen Plastering Co. in 1946. One was with the Civilian Conservation Corps. He was among those who built Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
The family sold the business in 2005, said Nielsen’s son, Budd Nielsen of Littleton.
The company specialized in stucco but also did fire prevention work for places such as Invesco Field at Mile High and Denver International Airport, said Budd Nielsen, who worked with his dad for 30 years.
The company also worked on the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Assumption Greek Orthodox Cathedral, the Air Force Academy and the Broadmoor hotel.
Nielsen stuccoed the Coney Island stand in 1966, at 4190 W. Colfax Ave., and in 2006, when the popular, 42-foot-long wiener-shaped cafe was moved to the Bailey area from Aspen Park.
There is a plaque on the wall of the cafe noting that Nielsen did the work, including painting the bun, the relish, and the ketchup and mustard.
“We went round and round on colors,” Budd Nielsen said, noting that his dad was colorblind.
Odin Niel sen was a guy who really did “give the shirt off his back” to someone.
It happened in a bar on South Broadway. A guy came in “with a filthy T-shirt that had holes in it,” said Nielsen’s daughter, Charlotte Nelson. Her dad was wearing a “nice gabardine shirt and he exchanged shirts” with the stranger.
Nielsen’s wife, Christina Nielsen, wasn’t crazy about the exchange.
Odin Nielsen was particular about his work. Among the “Odinisms” that Budd Nielsen collected over the years was “some laborers are like wheelbarrows: they have to be picked up and pushed to get any work out of them.”
Odin Thor Nielsen was born in Englewood on July 26, 1921.
He married Christina Howe, whom he had known since grade school, on March 13, 1940.
In addition to his wife and son and daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Barbara Nielsen of Littleton; six grandchildren; and 11 great grandchildren. Another daughter, Peggy Nielsen, preceded him in death.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
