Richard Nilsson

Richard Eugene Nilsson

June 8, 1929 ~ May 25, 2017

Richard Eugene Nilsson, 87, passed away on May 25, 2017, the fulfillment of a life spent in generosity.  His wife, LouJean, was by his side, having rarely left it in their later years, and really, having rarely left it since their marriage almost 65 years ago.  He was her world.

A doctor, a golfer, a skier, a world traveler, Dick was proof of the power of hard work and education.

The firstborn of Cluster and Sena Nielsen Nilsson, he was born at home on June 8, 1929, in the Scandinavian pioneer town of Ephraim, Utah.  Dick was proud of his roots.  After the young family moved to Ogden, he took the train back to Ephraim every summer to help his grandparents.  He fished, he hunted, he farmed.

Dick loved a good adventure.  He was a voracious reader and had an enterprising spirit.  He graduated from Ogden High School as a debate and swimming champ, then attended pre-medicine at Weber College.

After dancing the weekends away with the vivacious LouJean Allison, Dick made the smartest decision of his life in 1952 when he married her in the Salt Lake Temple. The doctor who would grow to care for thousands got the greatest caregiver of all.

He received his medical degree from the University of Utah, then began an internship at Dee Memorial Hospital in Ogden, working 18 to 20 hours a day for $125 a month.

The call came for active duty in the U.S. Air Force.  The couple and their young children moved to what was then Johnson Air Base, near Tokyo, Japan.  Dick received special commendation for his two years as a surgeon there.

The Nilsson family settled in North Ogden, where the kitchen table was used more than once for a medical emergency.  Dick opened the city’s first clinic in 1964 and spent the next decades serving his community.  He was active in the LDS Church and was known as an intelligent teacher and trusted leader.

At his 1998 retirement, the cards and letters came flowing in, thanking Dr. Nilsson for his generosity, candidness, and problem solving.  “You gave us much more than good care, you gave us a lasting friendship,” one said.  “Your patients have loved you because you cared for them with love.”

Dick and LouJean built their dream house on a golf course in the sunshine of Mesquite, Nevada.  The move brought cherished new friendships.  They spent their days following geographic maps, discovering old mines, visiting CCC camps and petroglyphs, and uncovering artifacts.

Southern Nevada, Southern Utah, and the national parks were their playgrounds.  They drove to Zion every week.  They loved walking trails, meandering through the shops, eating a garlic burger at Oscars, and feeling serenity under the umbrella of the Great White Throne.

Above all Dick’s many achievements was the highest honor of his life – his children.  He was deeply proud of them.  Their joy was his joy.  They were together as a family at his passing: Terri (Jim) Kane, of St. George; Brett (Nancy) Nilsson, of Layton; Sharon (Bob) Richardson, of Bountiful.

As life slowed down, Dick and LouJean moved to St. George, where they welcomed many a weary traveler with the promise of a good time and the best gifts.  Their 10 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren will never forget their grandpa’s generosity and love.

Dick was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Jerry Nilsson, and is survived by his sister, Patricia Smith.

A private family service will be held.  Services entrusted to Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary.