Jim Nelson, Former Wrestling Coach at Carleton College, Dies

James Nelson Jr., professor emeritus of physical education, athletics and recreation, and former wrestling coach at Carleton College, died Tuesday, July 11, at his home in Sun City, Ariz. He was 79.

Born April 5, 1921 in Austin, Minn., Nelson was an athlete, coach and artist his entire life. He graduated from East Waterloo High School, Waterloo, Iowa, and served as a quartermaster in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Nelson earned his B.A. in art and physical education from Iowa State Teachers College in 1948 and his M.A. in physical education from the University of Iowa in 1954. He married Margaret Ann Huff in 1941 in Waterloo, Iowa.

Nelson joined the Carleton faculty in 1958 and taught physical education until his retirement in 1982. Known affectionately as Nellie, Nelson served as head wrestling coach and assistant coach in football and track and field. Prior to coming to Carleton, he taught and coached for 10 years at high schools in Oelwein, Iowa, Lake Forest, Ill., and Minneapolis and Wayzata, Minn.

Nelson was perhaps as well known for his widely-acclaimed sports drawings, which featured cartoons of sports personalities, as he was for his coaching. His drawing career began during World War II, as an artist for the U.S. Navy newspaper Anchor. While there, he created a cartoon strip featuring a character called Sea Weed. For nearly 50 years he drew portraits of amateur and professional athletes that were published in newspapers and event programs, as well as portraits of faculty and staff at Carleton and St. Olaf colleges. His retirement from Carleton was celebrated with an exhibit of his drawings at the College’s Boliou Art Gallery. [View one of Nelson’s drawings]

According to his wife, Nelson loved coaching and teaching. She noted that he considered it a privilege to work with young student-athletes. John Hagen, a 1971 Carleton graduate who competed for Nelson, remembered Nelson as a genuine friend. “He took an interest in our lives and was always happy to see and talk with us. He gave us advice, support, and good role modeling during all the turbulent years of the 1960s and 1970s.”

In 1967, Nelson took a sabbatical leave at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, where he studied the role of Japanese Judo in wrestling and worked with Olympic-level wrestling coaches. He later incorporated techniques he learned in Japan into team practices at Carleton.

In 1982, Nelson was inducted into the Minnesota Wrestling Hall of Fame for his contributions to amateur wrestling.

Nelson is survived by his wife; three children, Michele Duffe of St. Louis, Mo., James III of Lakeview, Ore., and Rebecca Vikan of Sun City, Ariz.; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial mass will be held at St. Joachim and St. Ann Catholic Church in Sun City, Ariz. Following cremation, Nelson will be interned at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in St. Paul with a graveside military burial.

Memorials are preferred to Hospice of the Valley, 1510 East Flower Street, Phoenix, Ariz., 85014.