Arthur Richard Nielsen

Arthur Richard Nielsen passed away on May 25, 2021 at his home after a 2-year battle with Glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer. He was born on April 15, 1943 in Jamaica, Queens, New York. He was the youngest son of immigrants Peter Hansen Nielsen of Schafflund, Germany and Nora Groth of Oslo, Norway.

At the age of six, Arthur’s family bought and moved to a dairy farm near Cherry Valley, New York. Arthur loved growing up on the farm and attending races at Watkins Glen with his older brother. Arthur graduated from Cherry Valley High School in 1960. He went on to earn his degree in Civil Engineering from Syracuse University and graduated in 1964.

In 1974 Arthur married Donna Marshall, in St. Regis Falls, New York. Together they had two children, Erica of Boise, and Mark (Alexandra) of Boise. As a family they lived in many places around the U.S. In October, 2020 he welcomed a grandson, Leif. He loved being able to meet and spend time with his grandson.

After graduating he went to work for the New York railroad company as a surveyor. He then started working on various heavy construction projects as a cost engineer around the country. He worked for a couple heavy construction companies and joined Morrison Knudsen in 1986 where he remained until his retirement. While at MK, Art worked in the tunnel division and on the expansion project for Fort Drum in New York state. After the Fort Drum project was completed he and his family moved back to Boise, where he went to work in their International Division and remained with that division until retirement.

Growing up, he was very active in Boy Scouts, where he earned the rank of Life. Arthur continued to be involved in Boy Scouts with his son and Troop 132 here in Boise. Arthur had many hobbies including knife making and collecting, gardening, home improvement projects, family photography, genealogy and watching movies. He was very passionate about classic cars and spent time with his son restoring a 1969 Camaro RS, and he was in the process of restoring a 1971 Chevrolet C10 pickup.

After retirement Arthur loved getting together every Tuesday for coffee with the other MK retirees. He really enjoyed his weekly lunches with his dear friend, Luis Castenada. Arthur is preceded in death by his parents and sister Ann Edwards. He is survived by his wife, children, grandson, brother Stanley (Shirley) Nielsen of Pultneyville, NY, cousins Elizabeth (Joe) Pentola of Richmond, VA, Linda Morlock of Hilton Head, SC, several cousins in Europe, numerous nieces and nephews, and many family friends.

A celebration of life will be held on June 28th at 1:30 pm at Hope Lutheran Church, 331 N. Linder RD, Eagle ID. Donations can be made to Hope Lutheran food pantry or to the MK Nature Center.