Thomas Nelsen
1926-March 17, 2017
Stanford, CA
Submitted by Karen Nelsen

Tom died March 17, 2017, surrounded by his family and friends.

He came to Stanford as a professor of General Surgery in 1960 when the on-campus hospital was opened. His research interests included surgery of the stomach and small intestine and smooth muscle physiology. Another of his major interests was the development of the staging laparotomy for Hodgkin's disease.

He lectured in various institutions in the United States, Canada, and Europe and was a member of a number of surgical societies and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Another professional activity was the development of silicon microtransducers in collaboration with Professor James Angell of the Electrical Engineering Department.

After retirement in 1988, Tom became active in the development of lasers for surgery, particularly the Holmium laser, and he continued professionally as a board member and adviser concerning medical lasers at Coherent, Inc. until the age of 72. His early career included his internship and residencies at the University of Chicago (interrupted by military service in the early 1950s), becoming an Assistant Professor there in 1959.

He is survived by his wife, Roselyne Lombard Nelsen, his daughters, Karen and Roxanne Nelsen and granddaughter, Christina Shirley Choate. His first wife, Shirley Nelsen, predeceased him (1979), as did his grandsons, Alexander Choate (2003) and Eric Choate (1985).

Tom grew up in Tacoma, Washington, and enjoyed the farm where his father was able to pursue an interest in race horses along with his surgical practice. Some of his ancestors were among the earliest pioneers in the Oregon Territory. His father’s father had emigrated from Porsgren, Norway, decades before his birth.

Graduating early from Stadium High School, he enrolled at Harvard in 1943. He and Shirley Polson knew each other from childhood and married August 22, 1945, immediately after the end of World War II. They wanted to complete their college education together and this meant leaving Vassar and Harvard and moving first to UCLA for a year, and then to the University of Washington where he completed a B.S. in Zoology in 1947, and became a Doctor of Medicine in 1951.

Life at Stanford opened opportunities for an active outdoor and cultural life. An early enjoyment of golf shifted to regular tennis games at the Menlo Circus Club and a decision to stop smoking. Fishing, duck hunting, a small motor boat to enjoy the Bay and keeping tropical fish were early interests that later led the family to scuba diving, a seaside home in Sardinia and a larger boat.

Enjoyment of fine wine and the San Francisco Symphony and Opera were a regular part of his life. Photography was a passion that preserved the memories of a lifetime of journeys; a home darkroom offered a technical and artistic enhancement of photos from extensive travel in Europe and Japan. Cars and planes were a special interest, and he became a pilot – for travel and the fun of an aerobatic plane. He loved sharing activities in the mountains – camping, fishing, gun safety, horseback riding and skiing with his children, grandchildren and their friends.

After Shirley’s death, Tom married Roselyne Lombard in 1981. A French nuclear physicist working for CNRS and CEA and participating in research at the Stanford Linear Accelerator, Roselyne’s earliest time at Stanford was in 1958, as a graduate student. They shared many interests, from a background in science to tennis, the outdoors and frequent travel; their marriage led him to expand his education and study French. After his retirement from Stanford, they divided their time between Stanford, a mountain home in Sun Valley and her home in Paris. Explorations beyond Europe and the United States included driving trips in South America and family group trips to the Arctic and Antarctica.

With an endless curiosity and an enjoyment of building and making new things, his workshop was always active. He was pleased when his daughters earned degrees in science - geology and biology, and delighted when his granddaughter, Christina, shared his passion for SCUBA and the natural world, documenting it as a filmmaker with a degree in Marine Biology. The death of her older brother at age 21 was a blow, but Tom and Roselyne had the enjoyment of Alex’s years nearby while he was an undergraduate at Stanford. Alex’s girlfriend, Courtney Takahashi, remained close to Tom personally and professionally, becoming a doctor.

In his last years, Tom adjusted to limitations of his eyesight by using a large “tricycle” so that he could pedal a few miles to the grocery store or the hospital on his own. At home, he built an electronic system connected to his large-screen television so that he could continue to read widely on subjects of real interest to him and he enjoyed the wide range of recorded reading material available through the Library for the Blind and other services.

The companionship of dogs was a constant in his life, so close that his dog Martine died in California just a few days before Tom passed away from weakened lungs in Idaho. He had several great days enjoying this year’s extraordinary snowfall at home in Sun Valley and the magnificent views of the mountains he loved so much.

Tags: veteran, teacher/educator