Posted on: Tuesday, September 18, 2001

Frank George Nelson, fighter for justice, dead at 93

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — Frank George Nelson, 93, a retired English professor who fought Nazi persecution in Europe and age discrimination in Hawai'i, died Sept. 8 at his home in Hilo.

Born to Norwegian immigrants on Oct. 28, 1907, in St. Joseph, Mo., Nelson became caught up in the Nazi takeover of Europe after going to work as a visiting professor of English at Oslo University. He was imprisoned by the Nazis as an underground collaborator for passing messages, and in 1940 was exchanged along with other prisoners for a Nazi spy captured in the United States.

The king of Norway bestowed a medal on Nelson for helping that country's citizens escape Nazi persecution.

After teaching on the Mainland, he joined the University of Hawai'i-Hilo in 1966 and eventually challenged a state law that required Department of Education and University of Hawai'i faculty to retire at age 65, even though other DOE and UH workers were allowed to remain on the job until age 70. The Hawai'i Supreme Court ruled in 1981 that the law was unconstitutional.

"He enjoyed the fray," said daughter Sara Nelson Scanlon of Orchidland Estates in Puna.

Nelson also was a regular contributor to the editorial pages of local newspapers, submitting pithy notes that poked fun at his numerous targets.

A linguist who spoke 13 languages, he helped translate "Pathfinder," a book chronicling the early immigration of Norwegians to America. He later returned to his family's homeland to lecture in Norwegian and English.

While teaching at UH-Hilo, he took American students for summer study programs at Uppsala and Lund Universities in Sweden. The success of the cultural and educational exchanges moved the king of Sweden to knight Nelson in the 1960s.

"He strongly believed Americans needed to experience continental Europe," his daughter said.

In a wheelchair since breaking his hip in a fall last November, Nelson remained upbeat and kept his strong sense of humor, Scanlon said.

Private services are planned. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to Hospice of Hilo or the UH-Hilo Scholarship Fund. Arrangements are being handled by Dodo Mortuary in Hilo.

Nelson is also survived by wife, Jeanette; and son, Thomas.