It is with the greatest sadness that I send this E-mail to all the friendsand colleagues of Vaughn Nelson.
Vaughn E. Nelson passed away last Friday, May 12, 2000, at Howard County General Hospital after a lifetime of dedicated service to his country, his family and our community.
Born in May 1938 in Colorado, Vaughn served almost 22 years in the U.S. Army’s Geodetic Surveying organizations, and served in the U.S., Japan, Viet Nam, Germany, Liberia and Korea, during which time he received 15 awards for Meritorious Service and 3 for Valor. Vaughn completed his military career as the Assistant Director of the Department of Survey, at the Defense Mapping School at Ft. Belvoir, with the rank of Chief Warrant Officer.
Vaughn joined Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc., (then Bendix Field Engineering Corp.) in April 1979 as a Senior First Order Surveyor, and held a number of positions of increasing responsibility in the corporation until his retirement as the Surveying Supervisor in December 1998. Throughout this time, Vaughn led the corporation’s Geodetic Surveying activities, and created a world-class capability to support NASA’s STDN, NMOS, SLR and VLBI programs, and Space Geodesy organizations worldwide. Vaughn’s contribution to our community cannot be over stated and I am sure he will be forever remembered through the precise surveying monuments known throughout the world as Nelson Piers.
Vaughn’s family has informed me that here will be a viewing on Monday May 29 from 6-8pm at Witzke Funeral Home 5555 Twin Knolls Road Columbia, Maryland 21045.
There will also be a graveside service at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday May 30 at 3pm.
Vaughn is survived by his wife Karel, his three children Russell, Renee and Ralean, and his grandchildren.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard