Extracted from The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA)
Waldemar S. Nelson, generous engineer
Waldemar S. Nelson, a civic-minded engineer who was celebrated not only for the buildings and roads he created but also for the programs and activities he established, died Tuesday of cancer at his son's Baton Rouge home. He was 89.
A lifelong New Orleanian who had evacuated to Baton Rouge when Hurricane Katrina approached, Mr. Nelson won a long list of awards for his professional and philanthropic work, including The Times-Picayune Loving Cup for 2001.
His daughter Ginger Dodge said her father was so active in both fields that for years he carried two briefcases: one for the office and one for his civic projects.
Mr. Nelson's firm, which he founded after World War II, designed sewage treatment plants, offshore sulfur mines, Indonesian copper mines and the master plan for New Orleans International Airport, now Louis Armstrong International Airport.
Outside the office, he erected benches at Audubon Park, gave computers to schools, designed churches and served 22 years on the Board of Commissioners of the City Park Improvement Association, where he served as the organization's president and chairman of the park's engineering committee.
At City Park, he supervised the renovation of Tad Gormley Stadium for the 1992 Olympic track and field trials, designed the amusement area and helped restore the park's carousel.
``He's always been there for us,'' said Beau Bassich, the park's executive director.
Mr. Nelson came from a family of engineers. Both of his parents were in that profession, as were five uncles and an aunt. Among his relatives were the engineers who designed the Confederate defenses at Vicksburg, Miss., and the foundation for the Statue of Liberty.
As he grew up near the Mississippi River levee in the Carrollton section of New Orleans, Mr. Nelson said he knew he, too, would be an engineer.
He graduated from Tulane University with a degree in mechanical and electrical engineering and was a member of the honorary engineering societies Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma and Eta Kappa Nu.
After serving in the Army Corps of Engineers in World War II, Mr. Nelson established the firm that bears his name.
He was active in a long list of engineering organizations and was president of the Louisiana Engineering Foundation. He also was a life fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.
In 1976, Tulane named him its outstanding engineering alumnus, and he was inducted into the Tulane Engineering Hall of Fame 21 years later.
The Young Leadership Council named him its role model in engineering in 1987, and Junior Achievement of New Orleans named him entrepreneur of the year in 1997 and inducted him into its Business Hall of Fame.
In 1994, the Louisiana Engineering Society honored him by creating the Waldemar S. Nelson President's Award.
The Rotary Club of New Orleans named him Rotarian of the Year last year, the local chapter of the National Council for Community and Justice gave him its Weiss Award in 1998, and the Southeast Louisiana Council of the Boy Scouts of America honored him with its Distinguished Citizen Award in 2001.
Survivors include two sons, Kenneth and Charles Nelson; three daughters, Mary Sue Roniger and Ginger Dodge, both of New Orleans, and Martha Frost of Pearlington, Miss.; a brother, Dr. Thomas Nelson of Point, Texas; two sisters, Louise Nelson Ewin and Polly Nelson Guthrie; 12 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
A funeral will be held Saturday at noon at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 1031 S. Carrollton Ave., in New Orleans. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Burial will be private.
Rabenhorst Funeral Home of Baton Rouge is in charge of arrangements.
Thursday, November 17, 2005