POULSBO — Ronald Dennis Nelson of Poulsbo served as mayor of a Washington city for eight years, worked for the U.S. State and Energy departments, was honored by the CIA for his work assessing the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons program, and met with Soviet scientists to seek peaceful uses for plutonium.
Despite such heavy responsibilities, he still had time for his faith, his family, and even some recreational reading and gardening.
“Ronald will be fondly remembered as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, neighbor and friend,” his family wrote in his obituary. “His keen mind, dry wit, generous spirit and deep faith will be missed by all who knew him.”
Mr. Nelson died peacefully on Nov. 8, surrounded by his family. He was 84. A celebration of his life is scheduled on Nov. 23, 2 p.m., at Union Church, 415 Westlake Ave N., Seattle.
In lieu of flowers, his family prefers donations to the Ronald Nelson Memorial Fund of Union Church, the community of faith where he worshiped with his family.
Mr. Nelson was born on Jan. 15, 1930 in Canby, Minnesota to Guy and Lenora Nelson. In 1935, he moved with his parents and brother, Wallace, to the farming community of Hover, Washington, where his sisters, Delphia and Judy, were born.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical metallurgy from Washington State University in 1951, a master’s degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of Washington in 1957, and a Ph.D. in material sciences from Stanford University in 1962.
He devoted his career to understanding plutonium, which he described as “the most complex and interesting metal in the periodic table.”
While at UW, he met his wife, Eleanor Koenigswald. After they married, Mr. Nelson served in Japan as a meteorologist with the U.S. Air Force.
From 1957 to 1982, he worked at Hanford for General Electric and Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories. The family resided in Grandview, at the time a city of about 3,500 people, where he served as mayor from 1968 to 1976. He was active in Bethany Presbyterian Church there.
He was assigned to the U.S. departments of Energy and State in Washington, D.C. from 1982 to 1995. He worked with the military, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the White House, the Department of Defense and the CIA.
He received two patents, was a member and chairman of five national committees, and was presented with a National Intelligence Certificate of Distinction and National Medal of Achievement by the CIA for his work assessing the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons program.
According to his family, a highlight of his career was meeting with Soviet scientists to ask how the two countries could work together to “pursue peaceful uses of plutonium.”
Upon his retirement in 1995, he settled in Poulsbo where he and Eleanor built their home and developed 2.5 acres of land overlooking the Olympic Mountains and Mount Baker.
When not planting and pruning, he read books on history and cosmology.
He is survived by his wife, Eleanor; daughters, Lelia (Kurt) Olson, Karen (Scott) Tobiason and Renée (James B.) Notkin; grandchildren, Erica, Alan, Spencer, Julia, Ben, Becca, Erik, Liam and Luke; sister, Judy (Bill) Bridges; and many nieces and nephews.
Read and sign his online guestbook at www.tuellmckeebremerton.com.
