Craig Stuart Nelsen, formerly of Gaithersburg, Maryland, passed away peacefully in the presence of his parents at their family home in Fairhaven on March 14, 2015. He was 42 years old.
Craig was a graduate of American University in Washington, DC, with Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Analytical Chemistry. He was employed as Senior Scientist and Research Scientist in firms in Alexandria, Virginia and more recently in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
While at American University, Craig founded its Anime Society and has enjoyed this hobby throughout his adult life. He collected the earliest films up to the present and made a trip to Japan to expand his collection. For several years, he was a key staff member of Katsucon, an annual convention of Japanese culture enthusiasts in Washington, DC. He always looked forward to his time at the convention, and he attended his last in February.
Craig’s designation as a “Cancer Warrior” at Massachusetts General Hospital was well earned. He contributed to MGH and Dana Faber research by keeping copious notes filling several whole binders and taking many, many scans and MRIs to inform those doing research on his sarcoma, an outcome of neurofibromatosis (NF), in the hope of helping others who suffer from this incurable disease. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate any donations made in his name to the The Children’s Tumor Foundation (www.ctf.org).
Craig leaves his parents, Captain Dean F. and Doreen F. Nelsen of Fairhaven, his brother, Derek Andrew Nelsen and his wife Jennifer Huang, and their two sons, Owen Shuyoh Nelsen and Benjamin Dinhjun Nelsen. Craig was the beloved grandson of Frank F. and Mary B. Sylvia of Mattapoisett and Adeline I. Nelsen of Nebraska, who are deceased. Aunt Nancy K. Paquin, lives in New Hampshire and Beverly J. Sylvia Grove, Colorado. Other surviving aunts and uncles are Dwight Nelsen and his wife Kay from Nebraska, Inez and Harold Richard in Arizona, and Linda Barker from Michigan.
A brief ceremony with the family will take place Saturday at the Nelsen home, 23 Fort Street, Fairhaven. Craig’s wish was to be cremated, and a memorial observance for friends and relatives from near and far will be held on his birthday on July 10, 2015, at the Nelsen residence.