Burr Nelson
2016-04-16Burr Nelson, 66, passed away at home on Saturday, April 16, 2016, in Bement, Illinois. Burr was born in Chicago, Illinois, son of the late Clyde Nelson and Jeanne (Burrows) Nelson.
Burr grew up in Lincolnshire and Deerfield, Illinois. He graduated in 1972 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Math, Music and Computer Science. He went on to work at the University in the Departments of Physiology and Biophysics and the GIS lab for over 25 years. In 2001, he joined Kestrel Technologies, his wife’s web development and IT company, as computer programmer and system administrator, where he worked for the next 14 years.
Two of his great loves were playing and listening to piano music, and playing chess over the Internet with partners throughout the word. He was a voracious reader, an accomplished photographer and a world traveler.
He is survived by his wife, Virginia Dahms; his sister, Kim Soskin (Skip) of San Francisco; his mother-in-law, three brothers-in-law, two sisters-in-law, nine nieces and nephews and his favorite dog.
A private family remembrance will be scheduled at a future date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Piatt County Animal Shelter in Monticello, or Homeward Bound Pet Shelter in Decatur, Illinois.
I was very sorry to see that we had lost Burr the year prior to our 50-year reunion. At DHS I knew of his reputation as a genius in math and science but would only know him personally from our lining up next to each other (alphabetically) in physical education class senior year. So I was with him on the last day of high school classes AND (as coincidence would have it) on the first day of college (!) at the U of I, at freshman registration. We saw each other right away and were directed to the same alphabetical line, as we then went through the process together. Given that he would be in math, music and computer science, and I in foreign language (with a year abroad) and social studies, it is not entirely surprising, as it turned out, that we never bumped into each other again.
tribute by Jonathan Neumark