Douglas Evon Nelson ’34

DOUG NELSON, the minister of the First Presbyterian Church in New Haven, Conn., for 23 years, died in that city on Nov. 2, 1989, after suffering a heart seizure. Although he retired in 1978, he remained active in the congregation and delivered a series of lectures on C. S. Lewis, the British Christian writer.

Known for his oratorical skills, Doug often quoted Shakespeare at length from the pulpit and delivered his sermons without notes. He said that his eyesight was so poor that he could not focus on both notes and the congregation at the same time. A collection of his sermons, IS THERE ANY WORD FROM THE LORD?, was published last year. On the occasion of our 35th reunion, he participated in the Service of Remembrance in the University Chapel. At the time of our 50th reunion, he wrote that what our Princeton education gave us "is a wealth of good things to do with our minds now that we are of riper—yea, mildewed—years."

Doug is survived by his wife of 35 years, Maxine Mitchell "Jerry" Nelson; a son, Douglas C.; three daughters, Sheila Hourihan, Nora Holland, and Robin Zarbo; two brothers, Wenley D. '28 and John Oliver '30; a sister, Margaret Hanson; and six grandchildren. To them we offer our sincere sympathies.

The Class of 1934