Stan Nelson was in and out of the hospital last spring. In May, his son, Michael, traveled home from New Hampshire to visit.
When he got home, Michael took Stan on a trip down memory lane.
“He wasn’t able to do much, but I put him in the car, and we drove down Hwy. 30, Gravois and went by all of his spots where he might have spent some time,” Michael said Sunday back home in Lebanon, New Hampshire. “Murphy, High Ridge, House Springs, Cedar Hill, Dittmer, we saw the old high school and continued to the (current high school in Cedar Hill). I was a junior in high school when the current high school was built. We drove past a lot of the places he had his teams do a lot of running through the years.”
Mr. Nelson died at the age of 83 on Wednesday, July 8. He lived in Fenton with his wife, Barbara.
“I saw dad the day before he passed away,” Michael, 45, said. “That was very fortuitous. We have a family vacation coming up with mom, and I was going to go back to St. Louis to see him, and was told he wasn’t doing well and I should come to town as soon as possible.”
Michael is one of seven of Mr. Nelson’s children. Mr. Nelson graduated from Northwest High in 1961. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Arkansas State University, where he had a basketball scholarship. He earned a master’s degree and completed 30 graduate hours in education at the University of Mississippi. Mr. Nelson taught and coached at Northwest High for 35 years. The Stan Nelson Invitational is held every September at the Northwest Early Childhood Center in House Springs. Between 1971 and 1976, Nelson guided the Lions to top four state finishes five times.
Michael ran for his father at Northwest until he graduated in 1999. Michael is the head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country and indoor-outdoor track and field teams at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth is in the Ivy League. Michael has been married to Cassie for 16 years, and they have three children, Brooke, Wesley and Laurie.
“Because of my dad, I was exposed to those sports at a very young age,” said Michael, who was an all-state runner for the Lions before competing at Truman State University. “I grew up intrigued by the sports and found I had some natural affinity. My dad never pushed me in a certain direction. He let me make the choice. Some people confuse that. I pushed him to let me get into it. That’s the reason why I love it to this day.”
While Michael is in the middle of building his coaching career, he thinks about his dad’s legacy.
“He had such a positive impact on so many people’s lives,” Michael said. “There are so many people who have stories like, ‘I didn’t have a lot of direction, I met Coach Nelson, he made me believe in myself, and I took his lessons and applied those in life since my time there.’ The impact he had on so many people in a positive way and motivated people to move in a positive way.”
After retiring as a teacher and coach, Mr. Nelson worked in security at Chrysler. He also drove a school bus for the Rockwood School District, where he made a positive impression on a whole new generation of students and their parents.
“He was a guiding light in so many people’s lives,” Michael said.
Mr. Nelson stepped down as coach at Northwest in 2000. Since then, the Lion boys have had one head coach. Ken Campbell, 50, will enter his 29th year coaching cross country next month. Campbell has carried on Mr. Nelson’s passion for the sport of running and they will always be intertwined whenever Campbell retires.
“Ken’s kept the traditions alive that my dad started,” Michael said. “We’re super grateful for all of his efforts. And not just him. Northwest High as a whole has done a tremendous job remembering dad.”
Campbell wouldn’t have it any other way. He met Mr. Nelson when he was a freshman at Northwest and was immediately recruited.
“He’s been a constant influence in my life ever since,” said Campbell, who was in West Plains on Sunday with the Lions at the Joe Bill Dixon Camp. “Now it feels like there’s a gap there. He was a legend and was something different to me than anyone else.”
Before he retired, Dixon coached the West Plains boys and girls cross country teams to a total of 25 state championships, the most in state history.
“He (Stan Nelson) was my mentor,” Campbell said. “He’s been a friend and he was the best coach I ever had. There’s a tremendous amount of Coach Nelson in everything we do. He’s meant a lot to me, and it’s really hard. I was able to go to the hospital three times in the last two weeks. I talked to him the day before he passed away. He asked how practice was going and said he wished he could be out there with me. And he always is. He told me he was proud that I was keeping the program going.”
Campbell said Nelson’s legacy is strong.
“It’s not easy to follow the man. But it’s been an honor,” Campbell said. “It feels different right now. So many of the coaches think so much of him. Joe Bill Dixon told me he picked up some things from Stan when he started coaching.”
Visitation for George Stanley Nelson will be held on Tuesday, July 21. Following funeral services at 11 a.m. that day there will be a memorial luncheon from 12:30-4:30 p.m. at Andre’s West, 211 S. Old Hwy. 141, Fenton.