Thorsten Whitey Nelson

Thorsten Whitey Nelson died peacefully on June 9 at The Grand Islander in Middletown. He was 92 years old. He was known to many as a talented craftsman, gardener and sailor. He was devoted to his family. He was living proof that you can tell a Swede but you cant tell him much. This is not said to discredit him, but to point out his lifelong ability to undertake difficult projects, against all advice and common sense, and to succeed brilliantly in completing them.Whitey was born in Deep River, Connecticut on January 2, 1916, son of Eric Nelson and Judith Larson, both Swedish immigrants. He was the first of five children. His family soon moved to Newport, where he grew up. After high school, he trained as a toolmaker at the Torpedo Station on Goat Island and attained local fame as a pitcher in the Sunset League. Whitey often told of trading in a set of golf clubs for his first sailboat, thus beginning a long love affair with sailboats and the sea.He married his love and soulmate, Isabel Brown in 1942. Together they lived a life of self-sufficiency, economy, productive work and community service that inspired all who knew them. They had two daughters, Karen and Martha. In the 1960s Whitey and Isabel restored an historic but woefully neglected brick house in Barrington, then devised a system for using solar energy to supplement its heat. They were active in the Barrington Preservation Society, Isabel researching house histories and Whitey making the wooden date plaques homeowners could display on their homes. They were also Master Gardeners who grew all sorts of fruits, vegetables and berries on their Barrington property. Whitey even devised a method to graft an apple branch to a pear tree, thus producing a unique hybrid. Several years later they bought a 1940s wooden Alden sloop, restored it and sailed for years on Narragansett and Buzzards Bay. On one trip to Nantucket, Whitey became fascinated by Nantucket Lightship baskets and soon taught himself to make the molds and weave these intricate baskets. By all accounts he made over 200 baskets; many were gifts to family and friends. He was still making baskets into his 91st year.Whitey was a lifelong member of the YMCA, exercising daily into his late 80s. He was very proud when the Y threw him a 90th birthday and invited the press and a TV crew to record and honor him.At age 91 Whitey moved to Blenheim-Newport where he was tenderly cared for by the staff while he entertained the other residents with music, singing and stories.Throughout his life, Whitey loved to share his knowledge and expertise with others. Whitey passed a legacy of gardening, sailing and basketmaking to many friends and family. He is survived by two daughters, Karen Simpson of Hallowell, Maine and Martha Nelson of Norwich, Vermont, three grandchildren, Maria Simpson, Eric Simpson and Ira Nelson-Bokum, a brother Eric of Ocean Isle, North Carolina and a sister Helen Jones of Portsmouth, RI. A memorial service will be held at Calvary Methodist Church on Turner Road in Middletown on June 28 at 11:00. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the soup kitchen gardening project at the Methodist Church.