Dr. Bill Nelson’s mind was never still, even when he was in a nursing home suffering from cancer.
Not long before he died Dec. 31, he told a friend he was considering writing another medical paper.
Nelson, a well-known Denver cancer surgeon, died after a long battle with cancer. He was 89.
A service will be held at 2 p.m. Jan. 21 at St John’s Episcopal Cathedral, East 14th Avenue and Clarkson Street.
“He was outstanding in his field, capable, active and had a bright mind,” said Dr. Bob McCurdy, a retired Denver general surgeon.
Known as an optimist, Nelson “woke up every day feeling he had to put a good face on the whole thing (his illness),” said Dr. Jim Chandler of Boulder, a surgeon. “He was always cheerful.”
“He loved being a doctor,” said his daughter, Robin Nelson Russel of Lakewood.
She recalled when he took the family skiing and he’d stop at the hospital, usually about 6 a.m., to check on patients. The family would eat breakfast in the cafeteria, “play games and then eat another breakfast, and we’d get to the slope about noon. Then, it would be time for lunch,” she said, laughing.
After visiting Fiji and seeing the poor medical facilities there, Nelson persuaded his fellow Rotarians to have a health fair and medical program there. He was joined “by all kinds of doctors” and even got some castoff computers from the University of Colorado to take to islanders, said his wife, Pam Nelson.
William Rankin Nelson was born in Charlottesville, Va., on Dec. 12, 1921.
He earned his medical degree at the University of Virginia. He served in the Army Air Corps in Hawaii, California and Tokyo.
He worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and the University of Virginia, before joining the faculty at the University of Colorado surgery department. He wrote dozens of medical papers and had speaking engagements all over the world.
He married Nancy Laidley in 1956, and they had four children. Their son, John Nelson, died in an accident when a teenager. Bill and Nancy Nelson later divorced. He married Pamela Campbell in 1984.
In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by two other daughters: Kim Wright of Corvallis, Ore., and Anne Cron of Franklin, Tenn.; five grandchildren; and three stepdaughters: Melinda Stroup of Santa Fe, Sharon Pickens of Centennial and Heather Campbell of Jensen, Utah.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
OtherDeaths
Gerry Rafferty, the Scottish singer-songwriter behind hit songs “Baker Street” and “Stuck in the Middle With You,” has died. He was 63.
His agent, Paul Charles, said the death occurred Tuesday after a long illness.
The singer recorded “Stuck in the Middle With You” in 1972 as part of the band Stealers Wheel. It grew wings in the film “Reservoir Dogs” and has sold more than a million copies worldwide.
