Obituary of Howard Nielsen

Howard "Hod" Nielsen, age 92 of Yankton passed away early Wednesday morning, April 3, 2013 at Avera Sister James Care Center, Yankton. Funeral Services will be 10:30 AM, Monday, April 8, 2013 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Yankton with Rev. Dave Wildermuth officiating. Burial will be in the Yankton Cemetery with military graveside rites by Ernest-Bowyer VFW Post #791 Honor Guard, Yankton and the SDARNG, Sioux Falls. Visitations will be from 4-7 PM, Sunday, April 7, 2013 at the Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home and Crematory, Yankton with the family present. Visitations will resume one hour prior to the service at the church. Howard "Hod" Nielsen was born to Niels and Ida (Mortenson) Nielsen on March 4, 1921 in Yankton, South Dakota. He attended Yankton public schools, graduating from Yankton High School in 1938, serving as senior class president. He attended the University of South Dakota until entering the Army Air Corps after his junior year. He was active in sports and journalism in high school and college. At the University he played football and belonged to Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He entered flight training in Vernon, Texas in October 1941, six weeks before Pearl Harbor. He served with the Eighth Air Force for over four years as one of the first photo reconnaissance pilots. He was stationed in England and saw combat in Europe, flying an unarmed P-38. Some of his missions included photographing coastlines of Normandy in preparation for the Allied Invasion. He was one of only seven pilots in his group of twenty-seven to survive. He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, and a President Unit Citation. He achieved the rank of Captain. Because of the top secret information he possessed about the D-Day location, he was sent back to the states where he traveled to Washington, D.C. and several other cities to debrief his superiors on his missions. On January 11, 1944 he married Anita O'Rielly in Yankton. They lived on bases in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Coffeyville, Kansas until the war ended, when they returned to Yankton. While in Coffeyville, their first child Janet, was born in 1945. Karen followed in 1947, and Howard Richard, Jr. in 1955. Following the war, Hod and his brother Roy owned and operated Nielsen Sport and Camera Shop in Yankton. Hod left the business from 1951-1954 to work with KOTA Radio in Rapid City. He returned to the business in 1954 until it closed in 1960. He then worked in the insurance business for several years. He began doing sports play by play for KYNT in 1958, continuing for over 30 years. He became sports editor of the Press and Dakotan in 1968 working there for many years, writing columns daily, then weekly. He retired from his column in 2007 at age 86. He was honored to be South Dakota Sportscaster of the Year in 1976 and South Dakota Sportswriter of the Year in 1993, 1994, and 1996. He was the only person in any state to be honored in both categories. Hod received Distinguished Service Awards from the National High School Athletic Coaches' Association, the South Dakota High School Activities Association, the South Dakota High School Coaches' Association, and Mount Marty College. Other awards include the North Central Conference Ed Kolpack Award, the USD Dan Lennon Award, the SDHSCA Max Hawk Award, the Friend of Youth from the Yankton Optimist Club, the Friend of Football Award from the SD High School Football Coaches, the Friend of the Pointers Award from Southern State Teachers College Alumni, and the Yankton College Pro Causa Citation. Hod has been included in the following halls of fame: SD Intercollegiate Conference, North Central Conference, University of South Dakota Coyotes, Yankton High School Sports, Yankton High School Fine Arts, South Dakota Basketball Coaches, Mount Marty College, and South Dakota Aviation. He also received an honorary doctor of letters from Mount Marty College in 2007. In 1993 Nielsen became Yankton's Citizen of the Year. He was a member of the Yankton School Board of Education for eight years (1968-1975), serving as president from 1973-1974. He was an early organizer of the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame and served on the Selection Board until 1999. He was the first president and one of the founders of Yankton's Quarterback Club. He was a member of Hillcrest Country Club in its early years. He served as a Heisman Trophy voter for many years. Hod was included in Tom Brokaw's book The Greatest Generation, and in Greg Laska's Blue Stars. He belonged to the Elks Club. He was a lifelong member of Trinity Lutheran Church where he was baptized, confirmed, and married. Mourning his loss are his children: Janet (Loren) Gratz of Tucson, AZ, Karen (Wes) Wingett of Norfolk, NE, Dick of Lincoln, NE; his grandsons: Robbin (Erica) List of Robinson, IL, Nathan Gratz of Tucson, AZ, Evan (Johanna) Gratz of Green Bay, WI; and his three great-granddaughters: Bailey List of Bainbridge Island, WA, Lucy and Annika List of Robinson, IL; his sister, Virginia of Oklahoma City, OK; and sister-in-law, Elaine Nielsen of Yankton, SD. He was preceded in death by his wife of sixty-six years, Anita, three brothers: Niels Robert, Roy, and Willard.