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John W. Nielsen, age 95, died at his home in Blair on May 12, 2021. John was born June 29, 1925, in Mankato, Minn., to John Nielsen, an immigrant from the west coast of Denmark, and Meta Wolter Nielsen, who was born to German immigrant parents in rural Martin County, Minnesota. He grew up in rural Freeborn County, Minn., where his father was the county engineer. On April 8, 1949, he was united in marriage at First Lutheran Church in Blair to Elizabeth Hansen Solevad of Watsonville, Calif., whose parents were also Danish immigrants.

He is survived by his wife of 72 years, and by his children, John Mark (Dawn) Nielsen, Jane (Doug Wilson), Anne (John) Hibbing and David Nielsen; a daughter-in-law, Patti Meier Nielsen; 10 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren, as well as two sisters and 23 nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by one son, Thomas Solevad Nielsen, as well as his parents, three sisters, two brothers and a nephew.

Church and school shaped his life. After attending a one-room school for eight grades, he attended and graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1943, and received his BA in English from Dana College in 1947. He taught junior-senior English for two years in Stanton before attending the University of California-Berkeley. While there, he felt the call to enter the ministry, and so returned to Trinity Seminary in Blair where he received his BD in 1953. Following his ordination, he served St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minn.

In 1962, he accepted the call to be Dana College’s first campus pastor and a professor of religion. During his years at Dana, he did further study at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif., as well as the Institute of European Studies in London, Paris, Tubingen, Germany, and Basel, Switzerland. In 1968, he matriculated at Oxford University in Great Britain, where he received his D.Phil. in June 1976.

During his tenure at Dana College, he served as chair of the Religion Department and implemented and directed an innovative humanities program involving experiential learning, centered in the Parnassus Room. Many Dana students were introduced to opera, theater, classical music, poetry and drama as well as national and international travel through this program. A beloved and respected teacher, Dana College students named him Professor of the Year four times.

Always interested in the importance of collecting archival materials — letters, journals, and diaries — for documenting the history of everyday individuals, he initiated and directed a reorganization of institutional archival holdings that, following the closing of Dana College in 2010, became the Danish American Archive and Library. He served as its director until 2011 when he was named executive director emeritus.

A future graveside service is planned. Memorials may be directed to the Danish American Archive and Library, 1738 Washington St., Blair, NE 68008 or a charity of the donor’s choice.

#2-By Leeanna Ellis - editor@enterprisepub.com

A Dana College professor known for his enthusiasm for teaching, his passion for religion and his dedication of preserving Danish history is being remembered by his students, colleagues, family and friends.

John W. Nielsen, the man affectionately called “Pope John,” died May 12 at his home in Blair. He was 95.

“He was just an absolutely incredible person,” colleague and former Dana College art professor Jim Olsen said. “He was a brilliant man. He had such charisma about him. He was a very magnetic person and he was very passionate.”

Nielsen graduated from Dana College in 1947 with a bachelor's degree in English. He taught for two years in Stanton before attending the University of California-Berkeley. While there, he felt called to enter the ministry and returned to Trinity Seminary in Blair. He was ordained in 1953. Following his ordination, he served St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minn.

In 1962, Nielsen returned to Dana College to serve as the institution's first campus pastor and professor of religion.

“I think he took great satisfaction in opening up, certainly we children, but students as well to the boundless possibilities,” Nielsen's son, John Mark said.

While at Dana, Nielsen, who served as the chair of the religion department, revamped the humanities program, which began as a pilot program in 1964.

“The major change was experiential learning,” John Mark said. “The problem was before it was essentially just lectures and quizzes and tests. It wasn't as engaging.”

The program was centered in the Parnassus Room, the former library reading room in the Pioneer Memorial administration building.

In order to successfully complete the semester, students had to have one excursion and 20 events. Dana students were introduced to opera, theater, classical music, poetry and national and international travel through the program.

“The idea was if you had the 20 events and the excursion that enhanced your grade,” said John Mark, who also taught with his father in the program. “You could even do more events and that would enhance it even more. They wanted to get away from that just knowledge of but having participated in.”

Olsen taught art history in the humanities program, which was team taught.

“For me, (Nielsen) was an inspiration. He was a colleague that I profoundly admired,” Olsen said. “I was a very young faculty member when I was participating in this program initially, so he was a kind of a mentor and an inspiration really.”

Following classes, Olsen said, the instructors often found themselves engaged in deeper discussions of what they taught.

“It was a learning experience certainly for faculty members. I probably learned more as a participant in that program than I did in all my other college experiences, my undergraduate and graduate experiences,” he said. “I probably learned more from him and my other colleagues in that program.”

As campus pastor, Nielsen focused on outreach. It was through this that his fellow professor and friend Don Warman quipped the nickname “Pope John.”

“Students thought that he didn't know this, but they started calling him Pope John,” John Mark said. “Later, it became very clear.”

It also led to a comical situation while on student trip to Europe, which included a visit to the Vatican.

“Is the pope coming yet?” the students asked, referencing Nielsen.

Soon, those tourists who heard the students began gathering around as they thought the pope would be there.

“Then Dad showed up and dismay,” John Mark said with a laugh.

While still a professor at Dana College, Nielsen recognized the importance of collecting archival materials, including letters, journals and diaries, to preserve the history of Danish immigrants.

In 1986, Nielsen brought the Hansen-Mengers collection, which included more than 13,000 letters, to the archive, which later became the Danish American Archive and Library.

“We've got to preserve this,” Nielsen said.

In 2010, when word that Dana College was closing, Nielsen was there to move the archive out of the Dana-LIFE Library.

“Remembering that just days before, my brother died,” John Mark said. “We learned that Dana was closing an hour and a half before the visitation for my brother.”

Nielsen became the executive director of the archive in 1990 — a position he held for more than 20 years. He was followed by Dana alumna Jill Hennick.

“John W. Nielsen had a phenomenal memory and a variety of interests. The topics of conversation at our 10 a.m. coffee sessions would range from his memories of a visitor’s aunt that he knew in the 1940s, to the newest scientific theory of virus control, to the latest opera he attended, to the newest biography he was reading, to the type of tomatoes in his garden,” Hennick said. “His presence is irreplaceable and we are dedicating the entire issue of our next newsletter to him, his accomplishments and what he as meant to the Danish American Archive and Library.”

As word of Nielsen's death spread among the Dana College community, former students shared their memories and lessons learned from their well-loved professor.

“Dr. Nielsen was almost mystical, and he had a way of pulling people in and teaching them how to think,” former student Michael Martin wrote. “That is perhaps the most significant thing he did. He never told people what to think, but he was intent on teaching them how to think, analyze and integrate life. This is the lesson I have taken from him.”

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~