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Dr. Charles L. Nelson - February 2, 1950 - October 25, 2014
Dr. Charles L Nelson 64, Avon, passed away October 25, 2014 in St. Vincent Hospital. Born February 2, 1950, in Terre Haute, he was the son of Jack Carter Nelson and Leota Gould Nelson Stachura. He married Patti Ellen Keene on June 7, 1975, and she survives. Charles graduated from Plainfield High School, Indiana University with an AB in Biological Science, Indiana University School of Dentistry, and received his postdoctoral Certificate in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 1979, from Indiana University School of Dentistry and Medical Center Hospitals. He then entered the military with the United States Air Force serving at the USAF Regional Hospital at Carswell AFB in Texas, until 1982, leaving with a rank of Major. Dr. Nelson began working as full-time faculty for the Indiana University School of Dentistry as an Associate Professor; he also served as the Director of the Residency Training Program, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and as Chairman of the Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery for the Indiana University School of Dentistry and Medical Center Hospitals. From 1983 until 1994 he was the Assistant Director for the Craniofacial Anomalies Team at James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children. In 1994, he chose full-time private practice and was a partner at Avon Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Avon, retiring in 2013. He had recently accepted the position of Interim-Chairman of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Program at the IU School of Dentistry. Dr. Nelson was a member of the American Dental Association, Indiana Dental Association, Indianapolis District Dental Society, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (served as President 1988-89), Great Lakes Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and the American Cleft Palate Association. He received many awards during his lifetime including Phi Eta Sigma Scholastic Honorary Fraternity from Indiana University, the Glenn J. Pell Memorial Scholastic Award from Indiana Society of Oral Surgeons, an Air Force Commendation Medal and the Omicron Kappa Upsilon, a dental honorary fraternity. Chuck was an avid woodworker and enjoyed sharing his work with family and friends. He enjoyed golf and was a member of the Prestwick Country Club and recently had been taking violin lessons. Survivors include his wife, Pat Nelson; son, Matthew Carter Nelson and wife, Candace; daughter, Erin Marie Stormer; grandchildren, Brianna and Jack Nelson, Will, Olivia and Patrick Stormer. Calling will be from 3:00-5:30 p.m. on Monday, November 3, 2014, at the Plainfield United Methodist Church, 600 Simmons St Plainfield, of which he and his wife are members. A memorial service will be at 5:30 p.m. in the church with the Reverend Charlie Wilfong officiating. Memorial gifts may be made to the Indiana University Foundation Graduate Oral Surgery Residency Fund and mailed to Ms. Pamela Lovejoy, IU School of Dentistry, 1121 W. Michigan St, Indianapolis, IN 46202... Online condolences may be made at http://www.bakerfuneralservice.com. Also, classmates wanting to contribute to Plainfield High School, in memory of Charlie can send a check to Carol Wendt 6933 N Park Ave Indianapolis, IN 46220. I will take the money to the school where it will be used to fund students in need. The school will keep a list of your individual donations, Pat will get notified and I will send you a summary of how your donations were used. Pat says that Chuck would be please to have his classmates donate to the school in his memory.
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Tom Loyal
"Blessed are the care givers,.." and Charlie was clearly a care giver. I just returned from a long vacation and heard of your passing. I am deeply sadden but know that you are looking down on all of us, with a twinkle in your eye, and planning on how you are going to help keep us all in good human and positive in our thoughts and actions. Peace be with you my friend, and I will allways remember your gentile touch with my special son.
Tom Loyal
Raymond Veith
Charlie........you showed all of us how a life should be lived.......Thank you.
Keith Trent
I think you would all be pleased to know that there was a large contingent from the class of '68 at Charlie's memorial service yesterday. And you would certainly be proud of Carol Wendt. She was asked by Charlie's wife to speak on behalf of our class and did a wonderful job of representing us. She drew several laughs when she shared the "rascal" side of Charlie. Thank you, Carol. I know it wasn't easy but your remarks were spot on. As the various speakers shared their memories of Charlie over a life-time, it was obvious that Charlie never changed. Regardless of where he was in life, whether it be with family, friends or professional colleagues, Charlie was funny, generous, caring and loving. We were all blessed to be his classmates. In our motto, "We are mighty, we are great....", Charlie personified that greatness as well as anyone in our class. May we all strive to be the kind of person Charlie was.
Carol Wendt
Several classmates asked that I post my comments from Charlie's memorial service. I was blessed to have several classmates contribute to these comments and to use some of Charlie's own words that he spoke during our reunion evening of September 21, 2013.
My name is Carol and I stand before you as the representative from Charlie’s Plainfield High School graduating class of 1968. In the next few minutes, with humor, love and great respect, I want to introduce you to our Charlie a few years before he became Dr. Charles Nelson.
Charlie grew up on Section Street in Plainfield with his parents, Jack and Leota. The Nelson’s house was often the site of multiple gatherings and escapades in waiting. Charlie was a Senior Patrol Leader in Boy Scouts, a member of the Plainfield United Methodist Church and a kid who loved life.
One classmate, Bill Smith, described Charlie, as both a rascal and a saint. I’ll start with the rascal part first.
For those of us growing up in the late ‘60’s, lots of activities were centered around the cars we drove. Charlie’s driving experience got off to an ominous start when he wrecked the Driver’s Education car during one of his lessons. Thankfully, no one was hurt. When he did get his license he drove a brown Corvair, affectionately named the “flying turd”. It acquired that name because its second home was Sims Standard Service Station where it spent many hours being worked on. The Sims’ station was also Charlie’s second home and where he worked in the summers. Yes, the future Chairman of the Department of Oral and Maxillofaciial Surgery at the IU School of Dentisty and Medical Center Hospitals, the painter, the woodworker and violinist was a gas station attendant, pumping gas, wiping windshields and checking oil during his high school days. Charlie learned many lessons under the watchful guidance of the owner, George Sims. On one occasion the steps to check the oil were modified and Charlie laid the dipstick across the battery terminals. Much to his amazement and those of his customer, he saw the dipstick disintegrate right before his eyes. To Charlie’s relief and comfort, George Sims’ knew the value of a teachable moment. George, was a man who Charlie often credited for the lessons he learned regarding the importance of following proper procedures and most importantly, the value of good customer service. Charlie’s most well documented and storied escapade involved a group of Senior guys whose mission was to steal the Plainfield High School victory bell. The bell was an antique, weighed several hundred pounds and was probably more valuable than most realized. It certainly didn’t belong in the hands of teenagers. But as Charlie would often say ‘the guys were quite mature for their age.’ They called it “Mission Impossible. Charlie had explained the plan to his parents who did not whole heartedly support it but viewed it as a harmless prank. So at midnight on the night of the adventure, 8 guys, two trucks and their equipment, left from the Nelson house and returned there at 3a reveling in their accomplishments while his mother fried eggs and bacon and listened to the details of this ‘harmless prank’. What they didn’t realize was their walkie talkie conversations had been picked up by the local Police. Our Principal, Mr. Combs, was informed but allowed the ruse to continue until while passing Charlie and Gregg Rogers in the hallway, he casually mentioned ‘guys, no Victory Bell, no graduation.’ Due to some technical difficulties, another mission was needed and more Senior guys were added to the group. On Senior ‘class night’ the bell was rolled out with all the fanfare and celebration it deserved. Everyone graduated and the lore of stealing the Victory Bell along with the story and photo Charlie had published in the school paper is a collector’s item among our class. Arguably, we grew up in a great time. Things were still simple and terms like pranks and shenanigans were used to describe most activities.
In Charlie’s own words, he never considered himself much of a student in high school but did just enough to get by. His grades weren’t awful but they did not reflect any particular effort to excel. He was on the Student Council and spoke fluent Latin. Mostly, he just hung around with Raymond Veith, Bill Smith, Randy Sims and Gregg Rogers and had fun doing whatever they did, going to the lake and skiing in the summer. Let me digress a bit and talk about his Latin accomplishment. On one particular multiple point test, Charlie was struggling to come up with the answers. So in typical Charlie logic and fashion, he decided to just start sequencing his answers as A,B,C, D and then repeat the sequence throughout the 40 questions. Three days later the grades were back and much to the amazement of our teacher, Miss Newlin, someone had cracked the code to the answers. It was Charlie. He had aced the test. Charlie laughed so hard that the teacher became suspicious but she was so very proud of her star pupil as the rest of us shook our heads in disbelief. The bell shaped curve had just been blown, Charlie’s Latin classmates received grades lower than expected and also now had to explain to their parents that the reason their grade was lower was because of some ingenious thinking by Charlie.
Now that I’ve shared a few stories about our Charlie during his school days, I want to fast forward to 45 years later. What Charlie accomplished during those 45 years will be shared by others but something happened last year that brought Charlie back into the lives of his classmates. It was our 45th high school reunion and Charlie and I served as co-chairs. We were already talking most days because Charlie had been recently diagnosed with lymphoma of the spleen and he wasn’t working while taking his chemo treatments. We shared the role of sidekick and boss. Charlie put his heart and soul into making this reunion the best it could possibly be. He sensed an energy among his classmates and the need to reconnect, to see friends from many years ago and to see people you had a common bond with. Charlie was the MC for our evening. He told us how ‘in some fashion, we all helped shape one another.’ He told a personal story that he had never shared with anyone in our class but he had used as a teachable moment for others. It goes like this, toward the end of our Senior year, questionnaires were distributed asking us to vote for Best Athlete, Most Likely to Succeed, Best Personality and so on. Charlie was on the tabulating committee and got to read off the names. As the final names were read and votes tabulated there appeared the name “Charlie Nelson” on the ballot of most likely to succeed. Charlie readily admitted that motivated him for years to come. Someone saw something in him that he never saw himself. Charlie got tears in his eyes while telling that story in front of the class and made sure to recognize Gerald Rose Jr for his vote and for somehow seeing that ‘something’. The point of Charlie’s story is that we have all influenced each other in some way, fashion or at some level. Today we are here to remember the influence that Charlie has had on our lives. For all of us, we have seen people come into our lives and quickly go. Others have come into our lives, left footprints on our heart and we’re never the same. So from the bottom of the hearts of your Plainfield High School class of 1968, we thank you, Charlie Nelson for your love, laughter, stories and the lives you have influenced, be it ours or others you cared for. On a personal note, I thank God, that you allowed me to be your sidekick, your Stephen Minister and the ‘sister’ you chose to share your life’s journey.
Kathy Trotter (Kline)
Charlie wil be sadly missed BUT he left us with a smile on our faces always Last year at the reunion we had a great private talk about where life had taken us. We had both ended up in the Medical career and had married the Love of our Life. He talked with me about loosing mine and how I would be ok and just remember how blessed we were. We laughed a little and we cried but I cherish the time together. RIP Charlie Love Kathy.
Dee Bell (Becker)
Carol's tribute to the vibrant soul of Charlie Nelson is full of the heart that Charlie lived every day and a worthy nod to the special gent who influenced so many and reconnected our past lives as a unit. The loss is vast, but his well-lived life continues to inspire. Rest in peace Charlie and thank you for sharing your many talents, gifts and huge contributions with us. X Dee Bell
Rachel Maxwell (Johnson)
Linda Hayden (Shockley)
Charlie, you rascal! You brought us all together, in record numbers, for a reunion last year. A reunion that reconnected our hearts and souls. A gift to us, for sure, and so like you, Charlie. We will honor your life by taking good care of each other....from here on out. Thank you, Charlie, for taking such good care of us, the class of 68. Linda Hayden Shockley
Marvin Fischer
Amen to all of these heartfelt tributes to our friend and classmate,CharlieMarla Chestnut (Riddle)
Charlie memories - hmmmm- mine are so different than most, we shared the same Sunday school class and MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship) activites. I think it was in jr hi Sunday school class that the kid with a mouth full of braces told me he wanted to become a dentist. We never hung out or spent time together away from church but were bound by a good thread. So now I say to you Charlie - gather these classmates together - and know that all of you are missed!