Charles "Gene" Nelson
Marriages
Norma Jean Graefe - 1961
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3D In Memoriam - May 12, 2019
Gene Nelson December 20, 1932 - February 3, 2019
A celebration of life will be held for Gene on May 18th, at 2:00 p.m. at 2205 Sand Castle Lane in Grand Junction. Memorial contributions may be made to HopeWest Hospice.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3D Obituary - February 10, 2019
On February 3, 2019, Charles "Gene" Eugene Nelson passed away at 86. Gene was born December 20, 1932, in Denver and grew up in Fort Lupton and Longmont. He was an amateur archeologist, published articles in the journals, Southwestern Lore, for CU Boulder, and Plains Anthropology. He was a huge advocate in the restoration of Bent’s Fort. In his twenties he raced an MG through mountain towns. A crash into a tree ended his racing career. He married Norma Graefe in 1961. They towed their homebuilt Dune Buggy, nicknamed the "Baby Buggy", all over the desert while camping. Their group of friends were overlanding and rock crawling before there were trendy names and fancy rigs. Gene was a Cartographer for the USGS for over 30 years, retiring in 1988. He and Norma moved to Grand Junction where he continued hiking, camping, painting, building and flying model airplanes, and arrowhead making. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Norma Jean Nelson; son, Russell Nelson; daughter-in-law, Amy Bates-Nelson, and grandson, Aiden Nelson. He loved his dogs, Muggsy, Blacky, Blue, Prince, Lucky, Toby, Duke, and Smokey. Duke passed away in mid-2018. Dad passed away six months later. We could not have done this without the assistance and caring of HopeWest Hospice.
