MERLIN NELSON

NELSON--Merlin E.,

born in Fargo, North Dakota on January 30, 1922, died peacefully at home in New York City on May 26, 2016. He was the youngest son of Theodore G. Nelson and Eva Hultgren Nelson. With Merlin aged two the family moved first to California, camping for the six week journey, then in 1933 they moved to Salem, Oregon (in a Model A Ford and a four-wheeled trailer) where Merlin grew up. He graduated from Salem High School where he became student body president and from the University of Oregon where was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was called to active duty in the U.S. Army Enlisted Reserve Corps in 1943, and following training as a demolition specialist, he proceeded in November 1944 to Cherbourg, Normandy, and then with his unit to Holland and Germany. He was wounded on December 11, 1944, and subsequently awarded the Purple Heart. Under the G.I. Bill of Rights he attended Yale Law School and upon graduation joined the Marshall Plan in Washington, DC. In 1952 he joined Davis, Polk, Wardwell in New York City, but by 1958 he was being offered jobs outside the law and in 1962 chose the International Division of AMF, Inc. and lived in London for ten years. He returned to New York in 1971, retiring from AMF in 1984 as Vice-Chairman. In retirement he was actively involved with conservation organizations, principally the Trust for Public Land and the Tuckernuck Land Trust. Devoted to his family, Merlin was always unfailingly generous and loving. He is survived by his wife, Janet; three children, Craig, Claudia and Rolf; and five grandchildren. His son Brian predeceased him.