MFDA recently honored Niles Nelson for his service and dedication to the Montana Funeral profession. We are honored to have Niles as a member of the association. Below is a brief history of Niles life and career. We hope you enjoy getting know him better. It has been jokingly said in writers’ circles that two of the most similar written works are a bio and an obit; I’ll attempt to do more of the former at this point, while attempting to avoid the latter despite 46 years of habit as a funeral director. I was born at the base hospital in Ft. Benning, Georgia, while Dad was serving with the Seventh Cavalry in Korea. Mom assured me, however, that I was indeed made in Montana from genuine Montana parentage, Mom being from Anaconda and Dad from Kalispell. I lived in Polson where Dad had his first job as a band teacher, and then we moved to Libby in 1957 when I was a whole four-and-a-half years old. Dad was the director of music at Libby Public Schools throughout my entire childhood until my graduation from Libby High School in 1971. While in my junior year, I became hopelessly attracted to a little blond-haired, blue-eyed girl named Bobbie Brown, who was one year my junior. Never pooh-pooh the notion of love at first sight! The knot was tied in 1973 and has remained that way for what will be 49 years later this year. I moved to Missoula and attended the University of Montana, with a stint in the Army in the middle of the process. I majored in sociology and social work and played with the U of M Jazz Workshop band and the U of M Wind Ensemble to break the monotony. Sociology is about as interesting as watching a lake dry up. In those years, most colleges of mortuary science Niles Nelson — Honor and Recognition 14 Montana Funeral Directors Association
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