RIDGEFIELD, WA (May 13, 2013) – A memorial service for retired Evangelical Covenant Church pastor Charles Edward Nelson, 84, will be conducted at 2 p.m. June 8 at the Cascades Camp and Conference Center in Yelm, Washington. He died May 4.

Nelson was born December 2, 1928, in Aurelia, North Dakota, a small farming community that no longer appears on the map north of Minot.

He graduated from Seattle Pacific College in 1950 and from North Park Theological Seminary in 1964.

Nelson married Marilou Saxby on July 27, 1951. They later divorced. He married Elaine Larson in 1990. She preceded him in death.

He served as pastor of Ocean Park Community Covenant Church in Ocean Park, Washington; Mercer Island Covenant Church in Mercer Island, Washington; Kirkland Covenant Church in Kirkland, Washington; Winnetka Covenant Church in Wilmette, Illinois; and First Covenant Church in Tacoma, Washington.

After retiring from pastoral ministry, he taught at Tacoma’s alternative high school for students experiencing legal and other difficulties.

Nelson is survived by Marilou Nelson and their three children, Claudia Moreno, Greg Nelson, and Dan Nelson.