Ralph W. Nelson, 85, of Ottawa passed away Saturday, November 28, 2020 at his home.
Due to state regulations and guidelines, social distancing and masks will be required. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 am, Thursday, December 3 at Cross Bridge Community Church. We will be limiting the number of people at a time entering the building. Private family services will follow. He will be buried at Oakwood Memorial Park. Ottawa Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.
Ralph was born February 23, 1935 in Chicago to his mother, Sadie Nelson. He was raised in Ottawa and graduated from Ottawa Township High School in 1953. He attended University of Illinois and graduated in 1957. He received his Masters Degree from Southern Illinois University before returning to U of I for his advanced degrees. During his time at U of I, he played football for four years and played on the 1953 Big 10 Champion team.
After graduation from U of I, he taught and coached at East Peoria High School from 1957-1960 and then for one year at Ridgewood High School until 1961. In 1961, he moved to Ottawa where he would teach and coach for the remainder of his career, when he retired in 1991. Ralph was Captain of the Ottawa Pirates football team for two years. He was inducted into the Ottawa Hall of Fame in 2011, and four of the teams he coached were inducted into the Hall of Fame. He loved the Chicago White Sox and Bears, U of I Fighting Illini, and Ottawa Pirates. Ralph enjoyed coffee groups at the Bee Hive and was a member of Cross Bridge Community Church.
He married Ellen Park on April 4, 1958, who survives. Also surviving are his children, Joellyn (Andrew) Groesch of Glen Ellyn, Scott (Susan) Nelson of Hinsdale, and Stephen (Julia) Nelson of Western Springs. One of Ralph’s five wishes after retirement was to be blessed with a grandchild. Ralph received the love of ten grandchildren, Jenna Sheingold, Andrew Jr. and Samuel (Katie) Groesch, Amanda (Wesley) Giacobbe, Peter, Elizabeth, and Sarah Nelson, and McHale, Lucas, and Jacob Nelson; and two great-grandchildren, William and a baby girl expected in the spring. He is also survived by his siblings, Robert (Donna) Nelson, Janice Vandervort, and Cheryl (Les) LaRette.
Pallbearers will be his ten grandchildren.
He was laid to rest in the Garden of Inspiration.