Captain Henry Eugene "Gene" Nelson returned home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Tuesday, April 12, 2022.

Gene was born to Jerome Lowell Nelson and Irma Luella Stevens Nelson on November 26, 1935 in Iola, WI.  He attended Lincoln High School in Manitowoc, WI where he was the Captain of the football team, Class President, and Homecoming King.  Soon after graduation in 1954, Gene tried out and was invited to play for the Milwaukee Brewers, however his career took a totally different turn when he and a friend went to see the movie, "The Bridges of Toko Ri" and the very next day joined the U.S. Navy in hopes of being jet pilot fighters.  After two years at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, he entered Naval Flight Training and two years later received his Wings of Gold and was commissioned as an Ensign.  In 1962, Gene was a jet instructor pilot in Kingsville, TX.  While serving in Vietnam from 1965 to 1971, he had 98 successful combat missions with his Attack Squadron 12, also known as the "Flying Ubangis" and Attack Squadron 146 known as the "Blue Diamonds".  Gene would rise in the Navy ranks for a total of thirty-one years, being assigned Air Boss for the USS Enterprise, a nuclear carrier, graduating from the US Naval War College in Newport, RI, and then assigned to Pearl Harbor, where he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, Commander, and then finally Captain and was entrusted with nuclear readiness over the Pacific Ocean.  His career stats include 4800 flight hours, 634 carrier landings, 98 combat missions, and 8 cruises on 5 carriers.  At the end of his naval career, Gene wrote this poem called "See You."

SEE YOU

What's it like when you close the throttle and the engine sighs into silence for the final time?  It's delicious pain.

Happily, you have survived.  Unhappily, those joyous airborne moments are no more.  You won't miss the rain-swept carrier landings on dark and worrisome nights.  But you will miss the subdued exhilaration of breaking into the clear blue sky from a cloud shrouded climb-out.

You won't miss the endless weeks at sea away from home.  But will there be a substitute for those marvelous moments when the familiar flattop's profile comes into view, and you key the mike to report, "See You".

Life is a compromise.  For every beginning there is an ending.  But the knowledge of having been a part of Naval Aviation soothes.  The memories must now be shelved in the archives of the mind.  Hopefully they will be retrieved and related to an appreciative audience now and then.

There are no regrets for this delicious pain.  You have been there, on the wing of the High and the Mighty, and you would have had it no other way.

~Captain Gene Nelson, USN-Retired

Once retired in 1987, he and his beautiful wife Lois returned back to Manitowoc to be close to both of their families.  However, this Captain never fully retires as he signed on to be the Director for Big Brothers / Big Sisters in Manitowoc County, at the same time he formed a band called "Reminisce" which toured all the local nursing homes and provided complimentary music from the 1940s.  Gene's famous baritone voice guaranteed him the voice of God in the annual Passion Play, along with a daily program on the local radio station which gave the wind advisory for boating activities.  He was continually invited to speak at all Veterans Day and Memorial Day Parades, the Missing Man Table and Honors Ceremony, and local middle schools and high schools about the cost of freedom, his love for America, and the importance of fathers in the family.

The Captain spent his last years enjoying the camaraderie and companionship of many friends at two of his favorite coffee shops; anyone that knew the Captain knew they could find him at The Galley at 7am and then The Covered Wagon at 4 p.m.  He was known for his generosity, his kindness, his eagerness to help those less fortunate, and for his never ending storytelling.  To all those who loved him, he was either Grandpa, Geno, Gene, or The Captain.

Survivors include Gene's two children from a previous marriage, Michael (Marion) Nelson and Sherry (Daniel) Nelson Rodriguez; his loving and beautiful wife, Lois Marie Bruns Nelson; two sisters, Jerilyn Ruth Nelson Hawthorne and Sara Jane (Norb) Nelson Brouchoud, two daughters, Cheryl (Kevin) Glaeser and Kim Simonis; two sons, Warren (Tina) Hayden and David Bruns Brandt; grandchildren include: Jessica Nelson Bush and Eric Nelson, Emma and Erika Rodriguez, Nicole Fischer, Nick Glaeser, Lisa Simonis, Joshua Simonis, Tanya Simonis, and Connor Hayden; and great grandchildren include: Emma, Ellise, Keirstin, Chloe, Camron, and two on the way!  Gene was preceded in death by his parents, Jerome and Irma Nelson; sister, Elizabeth Ann Nelson Bennett; and grandson, David Moses Brandt.

Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 9, 2022 at Faith Church, 2201 South 42nd Street, Manitowoc. Officiating at the service will be the Rev. Jeremy Vance. The funeral service will be livestreamed and may be viewed by visiting the Harrigan Parkside Funeral Home Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/harriganparkside . Following the service, Henry will be laid to rest at Evergreen Cemetery, Manitowoc, where military honors will be conducted by the United States Navy as well as Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 731.

The family will greet relatives and friends from 9:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 9, 2022 at Faith Church.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harriganparksidefuneralhome.com

The Harrigan Parkside Funeral Home and Crematory, North 11 ^th and St. Clair streets, Manitowoc is assisting the family with funeral arrangements.

The funeral service for Captain Nelson that occurred on June 9, 2022 may be viewed anytime at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AfpkDdLybY .

The military honors that were conducted for Captain Nelson following the funeral service may be viewed anytime at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8vi41Zw2NI .