Dr. Joseph Lee Nelson Jr.

1923 - 2021

Dr. Joseph Lee Nelson Jr.

Quietly and in the presence of his children, Dr. Joseph Lee Nelson Jr., of Lynchburg, Virginia, completed his life journey on Sunday, January 24, 2021, at Westminster Canterbury in Lynchburg, Virginia. Joe was the devoted husband of the late Margaret Miller Nelson for sixty-three years.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia on October 3, 1923, he was the son of the late Joseph Lee Nelson and the late Margaret Randolph East Nelson. Raised in Norfolk, he was in the first class of Granby High School and played on its football team, coached by the legendary Coach Bill Story. In his youth, he attended Camp Greenbrier in West Virginia and was recognized for his accomplished skills in tennis and riflery.

World War II interrupted Joe's college education when he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1942. During the war, he was principally stationed at Duke University, a part of the prestigious Navy V-12 engineering program. Honorably discharged at the end of the war, he returned to and graduated from Hampden-Sydney College where he became a mathematics instructor and was the varsity tennis coach.

Joe received B.A. (summa cum laude) and B.S. degrees from Hampden-Sydney College in 1947 and was a member of the college's football and tennis teams. He received a Divinity Degree from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va. in 1951 and a Master of Theology degree from Harvard University in 1961. He obtained a Doctor of Theology degree from Union Theological Seminary in 1969 with proficiencies in the French, German, Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages.

He married Margaret and was ordained Disciples of Christ Church in 1948. His first pastoral assignment was at Olive Branch Christian Church in Toano, Va. and then later at Gilboa Christian Church in Louisa, Va. He also taught at Louisa County High School.

In 1952, he joined the Lynchburg College faculty where initially he taught mathematics, physics, history, and government but in 1956 began teaching in the Religion department. Thereafter, for forty years, he taught a spectrum of Religion, Greek and Classical Studies courses and later served for almost twenty years as Chairman of the Religion Department while simultaneously serving as Chairman of the Humanities Division.

Joe was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, and his brother, John Byrd. He is survived by his only daughter, Margaret Angela Nelson Phillips, and her husband, Bill, of Lynchburg, Va.; and by five sons, Joseph Lee Nelson III, MD and his wife, Linda, MD, of Roanoke, Va., John Randolph "Randy" Nelson and his wife, Karen, of Lynchburg, Va., Milton Miller "Mitch" Nelson and his wife, Susan, of Manakin Sabot, Va., Thomas Edwin East "Tommy" Nelson and his wife, Lisa, of Purcellville, Va., and David Francis Nelson and his wife, Kim, of Charleston, W.Va. Joe is survived by eighteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

During his teaching career at Lynchburg College, he was an interim pastor in churches extending from Tidewater to Southwest Virginia. He and his fellow Religion Department faculty members alternated preaching assignments at numerous county churches in the region including Massie's Mill Presbyterian Church and Mountain Top Christian Church in Nelson County.

When not pastoring at other churches, Joe faithfully attended The Church of the Covenant in Lynchburg pastored by the late Rev. Beverly R. Cosby. Joe earnestly supported Bev Cosby and his humanitarian ministries. In 1977, his mother and he played significant roles in the purchase and renovation of an abandoned school, the "old E. C. Glass" to provide critically needed low-cost housing for the elderly, disabled and low-income households - The Lynchburg High Apartments of LCF.

Joe became a lightning rod as a civil rights activist. One former student, who later became Dean of Lynchburg College, said, "when two of my classmates were arrested following their decision to participate in a lunch counter sit-in, Joe Nelson was at the very forefront of rallying faculty and community support for their efforts to bring local attention to the injustice of Jim Crow laws." Later, he took on the City's closure of public swimming pools, wrote newspaper editorials, and testified to City Council to persuade them to fully integrate its public pools after the abrupt closure in response to integration efforts in 1961. "Professor Nelson was a leader who was not afraid to speak out – he was not intimidated." At a dedication ceremony "Smiling Joe" Nelson was thanked for "being a beacon, showing by example how one can live a life that combines faith and powerful intellect, as well as a healthy ability to laugh."

Joe embraced a love of travel and cultures. Joe and Margaret extended their home and hospitality to host two international students who became like sons to them. With his wife and children, he explored interesting regions both domestically and internationally, including living in Greece three times for sabbatical studies at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.

Private interment will be exclusively with family and a memorial service will be conducted later once pandemic concerns abate.

In lieu of flowers, Joe's family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Church of the Covenant, Camp Kum-Ba-Yah, Inc., Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship, Inc., University of Lynchburg, or a charity of your choice. Condolences may be sent to Tharp Funeral Home www.tharpfuneralhome.com.