William “Bill” Wayne Nelson

Published 9:19 am Friday, May 9, 2025

William “Bill” Wayne Nelson, age 73, of Northfield, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, Saturday morning, April 19, 2025, at his home. Bill was born on October 23, 1951, in Albert Lea, MN to parents Harold and Marilynn (Sunde) Nelson. He graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1970. Bill was an accomplished athlete and sports enthusiast. In high school, Bill was the co-captain of the Albert Lea basketball and baseball teams and was named to the all-conference teams in both sports. He also pitched in all 3 games as Albert Lea finished 2nd in the 1969 state baseball tournament. After high school, Bill attended Augsburg College where he received his BA in English. He then started working as a teacher at Kenyon Schools. At Augsburg, Bill was a two-time all-conference pitcher, co-captain, and led Augsburg to the conference championship in 1973 and runner-up in 1974. He was also an outstanding softball player and was a key member of the 1975 state championship team. Bill was a major advocate of amateur (town-team) baseball. He started playing in 1970 with Hayward, Mn. In 1974, Bill joined the power-house team Dick’s Place from Columbia Heights. Then in 1975, Bill joined the Dundas Dukes. He started as a player and later as the manager. During his over 30 years with the Dukes, Dundas won the Minnesota state tournament 4 times (twice as a player and twice as manager) and finished runner up 6 times. Bill was also the head baseball coach at Carleton College from 1994 to 2005 and was elected to the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996, and to the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. Bill married Patricia Stanton on November 16, 1990. He was loved and will be dearly missed.

Bill is survived by his wife, Patricia Nelson; children Allan (Nicole) Gill of Northfield, Eric (Samantha) Gill of Nerstrand and Amanda (Cam) Edmonds of Northfield; grandchildren Sydney Gill, Dominic Gill, Michael Strandberg and Miranda Strandberg; brothers Bruce (Elizabeth) Nelson of The Villages, FL, Robert of Minneapolis, Byron (Sharon) of Lakewood WA, Greg (Sharon) of Dayton, OH, and John (Cindy) of Rogers; sisters and brothers-in-law Val Zweber of Prior Lake, Loriann Stanton of Shakopee, JoAnne (Ken) Egger of Spokane, WA, Colleen (Leo) Skluzacek of Northfield, Billy (Jan) Stanton of Dundas, Marcia Stanton of Northfield, Mary Ellen (Jerry) Jirik of Lakeville, Monica (Kevin) Lynch of Northfield, Tim (Christine) Stanton of Northfield and Michelle (Patrick) Fox of Lakeville; nephews and nieces Jeff and Amy, Maridee and Mark; Eric; Jessica, Laura, Justin and Sarah; and Erin, Emily and Sarah.

He was preceded in death by his parents; father and mother-in-law, William and Loretta Stanton; sisters-in-law Loretta Zweber, Donna Stanton and Diane Nelson; and brothers-in-law Donald Stanton, David Stanton and Mark Stanton. Special thanks to neighbors and long-time friends that were there for Bill in his final journey, Rick and Pam. To his grandchildren, Dominic and Sydney Gill, Bill helped care for you when you were born early and needed extra special care, thank you for the extra special care you gave Bill, we love you.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Dundas Baseball or Augsburg Baseball. A dedication to rename the field at Memorial Park to Bill Nelson Field will be held at 1 PM on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at Memorial Park.

A Celebration of Life will follow the dedication, at the Ballpark, until 4 PM. www.northfieldfuneral.com