Rulon Keaton Neilson, age 83, died February 1, 1993 in Salt Lake City after a long illness with Parkinson's disease.
A native of Logan, Utah, Mr. Neilson was a founder and president of Skyline Oil Company, a Salt Lake-based oil and gas exploration venture. After merging his company in 1977 into Texas Eastern Corporation (now Panhandle Eastern Corporation), Neilson Brothers Energy Company was organized with his brother, Alfred J. Neilson.In 1955, Mr. Neilson participated in the founding of the Oil Shale Corporation, now known as Tosco Corporation. The company was organized to develop a commercial process for the production and refining of shale oil, and has been one of the leading companies engaged in the research and development of oil shale technologies. Tosco since has diversified into the refining and marketing of conventional oil and its products.
Mr. Neilson was born in Logan, Utah and attended Utah State University. In his freshman year, he served as Logan and Cache Valley correspondent for both the Deseret News and Salt Lake Telegram newspapers.
In 1930, he left Logan to attend George Washington University law school in Washington, D.C. While a student there, he became a feature writer for the United States Daily newspaper which later became the U.S. News and World Report weekly magazine. Later he became an associate editor of Business Week magazine.
In the late 1940's, Mr. Neilson returned to Utah after having lived in New York City many years. The Rocky Mountain Region and Louisiana were the areas in which he engaged in oil and gas exploration activities with his late brother, Preston M. Neilson.
Mr. Neilson was married in 1967 to his wife, Marilyn Hanold. They were sealed in the Salt Lake LDS Temple in 1985. They are parents of three daughters, E. Rulonna, in a master's program at Cambridge University, England; Sabrina C., serving an LDS mission in Stockholm, Sweden; and Valerie M., a sophomore at Harvard University.
He is also survived by his sisters, Ellen N. Barnes and Adelaide N. McAllister, Salt Lake City; brothers, Judge George D. Neilson, Roy H. Neilson, both Washington D.C.; and Alfred J. Neilson, Salt Lake City.
He has been an active supporter of the cultural arts in Utah including the Utah Symphony, The Utah Opera Company, Ballet West, and the Pioneer Theater Company. He was a member of the Alta and the Fort Douglas Clubs of Salt Lake City and the Metropolitan Club of New York City.
Services will be held on Thursday, February 4th, at 11 a.m., 18th North Ward Chapel, 2nd Avenue and A Street, Salt Lake City. Friends may call at the Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple, Wednesday evening 6-8 p.m., and at the Ward on Thursday, 9:45-10:45 a.m. Interment, Thursday afternoon, Logan City Cemetery.
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