Dwaine Arthur Nielson 1921 ~ 2011
Dwaine Arthur Nielson, 89, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away peacefully on March 16, 2011.He was born in Oakley, Idaho, on September 14, 1921, to Julius and Laura Jensen Nielson. For more than four years, he bicycled the streets of Salt Lake City delivering telegrams for Western Union. After high school graduation, he began working on Teletype machines for AT&T, and could assemble blindfolded a Teletype broken down into its parts. During World War II while serving in the Army Air Corps for 38 months in Africa, India, and Burma, he provided communication links including those for Merrill's Marauders, the forces pushing into China. At the close of the War, he returned to AT&T to work on repeater stations. He married Lorraine Lois Vincent on March 21, 1947, and their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple. He constructed their first home from scratch on a dirt road in Salt Lake County. A pioneer in microwave transmission and solid-state communications, he was involved in the first transcontinental audio-video broadcast, the first live broadcast to Europe, and the first Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast from Mount Rushmore. He enabled critical communication between NORAD and the President during the Bay of Pigs. After 45 years of service with AT&T, he retired as a manager in 1986. He loved to learn, and after attending seven different colleges and helping his four children graduate from the University of Utah, he himself graduated from Westminster College at the age of 59. He had an intense love for Mayan and Egyptian archeology, and discovered a shortcut to solving problems with the Mayan base 20 number system. He loved gardening, home projects, church history, electronics, and math puzzles. For more than 20 years he served in various scouting positions for the LDS Church, and was honored with the Silver Beehive Award for his work in the Cub Scouting Program. He assisted his two sons and six of his grandsons to achieve the Eagle Scout Award. Serving as a part-time missionary for the LDS Family History Library for five years, he combined his love for genealogy and technology. He was always available to assist friends with their computers. Fishing at Strawberry Reservoir was his greatest passion. He is survived by his wife Lorraine Lois, two daughters, Linda Ann (Gilbert Eppich) and Laureen Lois (Steven Carlson), and two sons Gerald Arthur (Peggy Diepeveen) and David Duane. He has 11 grandsons and 15 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, March 21, 2011, at the Holladay 10th Ward Chapel, 4601 S. 2565 E. Friends may call on Sunday, March 20, 2011, at the Holladay-Cottonwood Mortuary, 4670 S. Highland Drive from 6-8 p.m., and one hour prior to the service at the church.