Thomas Nelson

Dr. Thomas B. Nelson, 70, of Platteville, Wisconsin, died on Sunday, April 26, 2020. A Celebration of Life will be held at the Platteville Community Evangelical Free Church at a later date. The Melby Funeral Home & Crematory, Platteville, is serving the family. Memorials may be made to the Thomas B. Nelson Memorial fund at PO Box 245, Platteville, WI 53818. This money will be used to establish a scholarship for civil engineering students at UW-Platteville. Online condolences can be made at www.melbyfh.com.

Tom was born June 1, 1949 in Racine, Wisconsin, son of William D. and Marilyn (Binn) Nelson. Tom was united in marriage to Carol Ause on July 1, 1972 in La Grange, Illinois. He graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York and served in the United States Army for ten years. He received his MS and PhD from Purdue University. Tom began his teaching career at Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont. He came to UW-Platteville in 1993 where he was professor of Civil Engineering until his retirement in 2012. He was a member of Chi Epsilon, a civil engineering honor society, serving at the national level for a number of years. He was an active member of the Platteville Community Evangelical Free Church and was involved in many community activities over the years, most recently the veteran's memorial and PCA trail. He enjoyed playing golf and traveling. For the past few years he and Carol enjoyed spending a few months every winter in Tucson, Arizona.

Tom is survived by his wife, Carol; three children, Beth (Josh) Urban, Matt (Tracy) Nelson, and Megan (Dr. Eric) Slane; eight grandchildren, Elliott, Caroline, Alex, Jake, Madeline, Chad, Graham and Evan; two brothers, Peter (Linda) Nelson and Bill “Willie” Nelson. He was preceded in death by his parents.