NIELSEN, Ross A. 1918-2001

NIELSEN, SMITH, VALO

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 2/14/2015 at 00:00:24

[Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, February 15, 2001]

Director, supporter of Price Laboratory School dies at 82

Ross A. Nielsen will be remembered for giving time, talents, money, and even a kidney to people in need.

The former director and longtime supporter of the University of Northern Iowa's Price Laboratory School died last Thursday in Corpus Christi, Texas, following a heart attack. He was 82.

His body was cremated and a memorial service in Cedar Falls will be held at a later date.

Nielsen, who had been residing in Cedar Falls, served as director of Price Lab from 1962 to 1986. He was also UNI's director of student teaching for the majority of those years.

"His generosity was not only in the intellectual part, but in financial (ways)," said Rosa Maria de Findlay, Spanish teacher at Price Lab.

Findlay knew Nielsen for 36 years. He hired her to teach at the school.

Findlay said Nielsen's generosity was expressed in myriad ways. He established a minority scholarship in honor of a student who passed away. Money for the award was from Nielsen's own pocket. Nielsen also anonymously funded a $2,000 UNI professional service award for outstanding research and teaching.

Nielsen was born in Wiota and graduated from Plainfield High School in 1935. After receiving a bachelor's degree at Wartburg College in Waverly, he earned master's and doctorate degrees at the University of Iowa.

He taught at Blairstown Consolidated High School and at Hudson before serving three years in the U. S. Navy during World War II.

Before he became the school's director; Nielsen was math chair at Price Lab for seven years. After retiring from the school, Findlay said Nielsen was still very much a part of Price Lab. He helped organize UNI's emeritus faculty association and and the Alumni and Friends of Price Laboratory School group.

"He was very instrumental in forming the group," Findlay said of his involvement in the emeritus association.

Nielsen demonstrated generosity in other ways, too. He lived for many years with one kidney after donating the other to his brother.

"That is a gesture that says everything," Findlay said. She described Nielsen as an active person, even in his later years. Nielsen was playing golf the day he was taken to the hospital with chest pains, she said.

"Golf was his passion--that and education," Findlay said.

She said friends referred to him as the "white fox, in a warm and colloquial way, because of his beautiful white hair."

Nielsen was the recipient of numerous awards. He won Distinguished Service Awards from the National Association of Laboratory Schools and the Association Organizations for Professionals in Education. He was elected to the Hall of Fame of the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association in 1991. While teaching and coaching at Blairstown and Hudson, his teams won 13 sectional titles, four district titles and one sub-state title. Northern University High School's Nielsen Fieldhouse is named for him.

"He was nationally known. He will be missed," Findlay said.

Nielsen is survived by a brother, Keith, of Arkansas, and three grandchildren. He was preceded in death by wife Jeanne, who died last year; and a daughter, Sharon:

Memorials can be sent to the Ross A. Nielsen Endowment Funds in care of the UNI Foundation or the Jeanne Nielsen Collection at the Plainfield Library. Date and location for memorial services will be announced at a later date.

By LISA SMITH, Courier Staff Writer

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[Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, February 16, 2001]

Ross A. Nielsen, 82, of 2523 Loma Street, Cedar Falls, died February 8, 2001, in Corpus Christi, Texas, following a heart attack.

He was born May 12, 1918, in Wiota. Mr. Nielsen received a bachelor's degree from Wartburg College, Waverly, in 1939; a master's degree in 1948 and Ph.D. in 1955, both from the University of Iowa. He taught and coached at Blairstown Consolidated High School for three years and then taught at Hudson Community School, Hudson. He served in the U. S. Navy during World War II, and continued on as an officer with the U. S. Navy Reserve, retiring in 1968.

In 1947 he became supervisor of student teaching for Iowa State Teachers College (UNI), joining the Malcolm Price Laboratory School in 1955 as mathematics chair. In 1962 he was named director and head of the Department of Teaching at Price Lab, retiring in 1986. From 1962 to 1980 he also served as UNI's director of student teaching. He served as chair of the National Association of Laboratory Schools and Associated Organization for Professionals in Education.

Survived by: three grandchildren; and a brother, Keith, of Arkansas.

Preceded in death by: his wife, Jeanne, in 2000; and a daughter, Sharon.

Memorial services: will be later.

Memorials: may be directed to the Ross A. Nielsen Endowment Fund in care of the UNI Foundation, or the Jeanne Nielsen Collection at the Plainfield (Iowa) Library.

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His wife was Gwendolyn "Jeanne" Smith Nielsen 1917 - 2000
A deceased daughter was Sharon Kay Nielsen Valo 1940 - 1979

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