Walter (Wally) C. Nelson of Longwood was born on March 19, 1924 in Racine, WI. He died September 30, 2019 in Longwood, FL. He is survived by his stepdaughters Jane Harper Oitzinger (Douglas) of Marinette, WI; Gail Titen (Andrew) of Tampa, FL; Mary Collins (Jeffery) of Altamonte Springs, FL; and stepson Jeffery Clausen of Altamonte Springs, FL. He is also survived by sisters Effie M. Hjortness of Las Vegas, NV; Mary E. Hjortness of Nekoosa, WI; and Nora J. Bell of Oak Creek, WI. He was preceded in death by his lovely wife, Dorothy Clausen Nelson.
Wally grew up in Racine, WI during the Great Depression and graduated from high school in 1942, seven months after World War II broke out at Pearl Harbor. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and was inducted in 1943. Upon completion of basic training at the Infantry Replacement Training Center (IRTC) at Camp Roberts, CA, he was assigned to the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) at Loyola University in Los Angeles. Upon cancellation of the ASTP program, he was reassigned to the 89th Infantry Division before being sent to Ft. Meade, MD and then on to the port of embarkation at Newport News, VA. A troop ship took him to Italy where he was assigned to the 34th Infantry Division which held front line positions north of Florence. He was captured by the Germans in March 1945 and liberated from Stalag VIIA at Moosberg, Germany on April 29, 1945.
Following World War II, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His careers included aerospace engineering during which he wrote articles for technical journals and co-authored a textbook called Space Mechanics. Following the conclusion of the Apollo Program his career transitioned to sales management. As the Space Shuttle came online, he transitioned back to engineering at the Kennedy Space Center and worked on the Hubble Space Telescope.
He had a life-long hobby of playing golf and served as a National Director of the American Ex-Prisoners of War. On retiring he began speaking to civic, student, and professional groups about space travel and exploration. This led to the making of a feature-length documentary, “Wally’s Mission on Mars,” about the counterculture of manned space flight, directed by filmmaker and friend, Lisa Mills. (He also took the time to write two other books, as well as an autobiography and this obituary.)
He was a member of St. Stephens Lutheran Church in Longwood, where a memorial service will be held on October 19th at 10 am, followed by a reception. He will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery. He was loved by many and will be greatly missed. Please View and sign guestbook at www.baldwinfairchildeastaltamonte.com.
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