Curtis Theodore Nelson

Funeral services for Curtis Theodore Nelson, 90, Topeka, will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Warren-McElwain Mortuary. Burial with military honors will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery.Mr. Nelson died Monday, Aug. 11, 2008, at Aldersgate Village in Topeka.He was born Nov. 13, 1917, in Wayne, the son of Hans and Ida Holmberg Nelson.Mr. Nelson was an accomplished basketball player at Belleville High School. He was recruited by Kansas University basketball coach Phog Allen.He married his childhood sweetheart Betty Jean Walton in 1938 in Belleville. She preceded him in death in 1984.In 1985, he married Ruth J. Beers in Ozawkie. She survives, of the home.Mr. Nelson enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in Japan during World War II from 1945 to 1946. He received the Victory and Asiatic Pacific medals.After the war, Mr. Nelson owned IGA stores in Barnes and McPherson. He later worked at Boeing Aircraft in Wichita. In the late 1950s, he began work as a barber and later owned several barber shops in Lawrence.Mr. Nelson liked to tell stories and dance to big band and polka music. He enjoyed spending time with his family, hunting, fishing, golf and country life at Lake Perry.Other survivors include a son, Monty, Topeka; two stepsons, Roger, Ohio, and Norman, Lawrence; one stepdaughter, Teresa, Topeka; 10 grandchildren, Bethany, Drue, Kris, Calysta, Jory, Crystal, Brandy, Darin and Norman; and 10 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Nancy Stanley, two brothers, Lloyd and Dutch, and a sister, Edna.The family will greet friends from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the mortuary.The family suggests memorials to Midland Hospice Care or Aldersgate Village Employee Fund, sent in care of the mortuary.Online condolences may be sent to www.warrenmcelwain.com, subject: Nelson.