Richard K. Nelson

Richard K. "Dick" Nelson, a pioneering software engineer and founding developer of the supercomputer at Cray Research, passed away on April 12, 2025 at the age of 95 in Bloomington, MN. Dick, beloved husband, father and grandfather is survived by his wife Barbara; sister Joan Bell; daughters Kari (Steve) Mueller, Martha Anderson, and Julie (Nick Hewitt) Nelson; and grandchildren Diana, Marshall, Rolf, Hans (Natalie), Gunnar, Ingrid, Siri, Miles, and Cayce and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his daughter Laura Nelson; his parents, Henry and Agnes (Suphammer) Nelson; and his brother Donald Nelson.

Born and raised in Minneapolis, MN near Lake Nokomis, Dick grew up swimming, biking, and tinkering with machinery. As a boy he liked to take things apart and put them back together again. He would gather scrap materials from junkyards and build radio receivers. This early ingenuity led to a trailblazing career as Software Engineer with IBM, Control Data and Cray Research.

Dick followed a lifelong love of learning. He graduated from Roosevelt HS then attended St. Olaf College, following family tradition, before transferring to the University of MN for Mechanical Engineering. Throughout college, he served in the Naval Air Reserves. After working briefly as a mechanical engineer at General Mills, he went on to earn a professional engineering degree from Caltech. During his lifetime, Dick and his wife, Barbara, philanthropically supported many Lutheran colleges and the University of Minnesota. Dick served on the Board of Regents at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN from 1987-1997.

Dick's pursuit of computer software engineering began at IBM in Los Angeles, White Sands, Albuquerque and Los Alamos National Laboratory with hydrogen energy development. He returned to MN to work for Control Data on the CDC 6600 and 7600 operating systems. There, he worked with Seymour Cray, whom he followed to join Cray Research as the 12th employee in 1973. Dick was a FORTRAN compiler expert and Cray tasked him with developing an automatic vectorizing FORTRAN compiler, which had never been done before. Dick’s groundbreaking CRAY-1 CFT enabled Cray to become the industry leader with the world’s fastest computers.

Dick married his loving wife, Barbara (Tjornhom), in August 1959 and this past year they celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. Dick and Barbara loved relaxing together at their Pickerel Lake cabin, which he designed in 1970. Dick’s retirement from Cray in 1995 allowed more time to enjoy sailing, long walks, and reading. He collected classic cars and could most often be found tinkering with engines in the garage, including his beloved 1913 Ford Model T. A steward of the land, he planted hundreds of trees and maintained them using his antique John Deere tractor. He held a deep respect for agriculture and loved to spend time on his farmland near the ancestral farm in Nerstrand, MN. He loved choral music and sang bass in many vocal groups, starting in his youth with the Bethel Church Choir and Octet, St. Olaf’s Viking Men’s Chorus, University of MN chorus, Minneapolis Aquatennial Aqua Follies quartet, Choraleers, Carillon Singers, and the Par Four, Norske Fourski, and Sentimentals quartets. Dick was a man of deep faith who attended church every Sunday. He will be remembered for his steadfast nature, generous spirit, strength of character, and love for his family.

The service will also be live streamed at https://www.centralmpls.org. Interment will take place at a future date in Underwood, MN.