Remembering Royal City coach Bob Nielson

MOSES LAKE — I’m struggling with a dilemma — how to eulogize a man who would lie to me about something sacred: fishing.

But, he did, and often.

We all lost someone special when retired Royal City teacher (business education) and coach, Bob Nielsen died from cancer at only 68 years young on Sunday, May 9.

Most obituaries usually describe such deaths as “valiant fights” or “courageous battles” against cancer. It didn’t seem that way to me as I watched my best friend slowly, then rapidly, ravaged by a mysterious, unforgiving and evil disease that viciously attacks the young and old; the weak and strong; and the undeserving with an equally deadly ferocity. 

To his friends, neighbors, students and players he was always “coach,” Mr. Nielsen or just plain Bob. It was always said with great love and respect, all of which he earned in over 40 years of coaching and teaching. 

I never knew him previously as Douglas, his given name, until my wife Jackie and I learned that unknown fact a few weeks ago, while visiting Bob in the hospital. Yes, it was really “Douglas” Robert Nielsen, but he quietly dropped that years ago preferring Robert, or just Bob, despite his mother Annie’s displeasure. Heck, even Bob Steffan, his brother-in law of 40 years didn’t believe me until his wife Jan (Bob’s sister) confirmed it.

But that was Bob. It was his secret, not something everyone needed to know. He could be that way sometimes. If you needed to know, he’d tell you, if you didn’t he wouldn’t.

There were a lot of things Bob was — honest and loyal, quietly devoted to his family and always dedicated to high school football, his players and students. 

Yes, at times he could be a bit stubborn (maybe a lot stubborn) but you could always trust him and believe him. He was well-liked and respected. Just ask the kids (now adults) he coached or taught. Ask their parents too. 

Bob also loved Montana. He grew up there with his five siblings (three brothers and two sisters) in a typical mining town’s narrow, tall, two- story house across the street from the shops of the Anaconda Copper Co., in Anaconda, Mont. I won’t say it was a tough upbringing, but the Nielsen kids were all tough, as was the town in those days.

He loved sports, football, basketball and track in high school and more football at Western Montana College of Education, not far away in Dillon. He wouldn’t like to be called a star athlete, but that’s the way the folks back home treated him. I couldn’t count the times I heard “when are you coming home to coach Bobbie?”

Something else happened in college. He met and fell in love with Margaret Colleary, a Homecoming Princess from Quincy. She wanted to go to school “someplace different” and a small college town in Montana fit the bill perfectly. Margaret is special and she’ll never forgive me for the “princess memory.” She has always been tops in my book. 

Marriage and graduation followed, along with Bob’s first coaching and teaching job at St. Anthony, Idaho. They spent two years there before moving to Royal City in 1967, largely due to Bob’s impressions of Royal’s likeable coach, Dan Verhey.

Verhey, who died just a few years ago, was also a popular and successful coach at Royal. After a college career of football and boxing (for the legendary Ike Deter), Dan came to Royal after seeing an advertisement for coaches and teachers for a “primitive” new school district. He came and never left, coaching football and wrestling as well as years as athletic director.

He also had an orchard at his home, bringing people from across the state — and Montana — for his delicious “Verhey Peaches.”

You always knew high school football and kids were Bob’s passion, and he was really, really good at it: a 179-74 record at Royal (only seven losing seasons); state playoffs 11 times: Royal’s first state championship in 1996; two times a state runner up; and a third place finish. 

There were many opportunities to move on and coach elsewhere, but that was as likely as his still spry 90 year-old mother moving away from the family home — never.   

There were also many years as a track coach, assistant and head wrestling coach, JV basketball, and even one summer as a soccer coach in Tri-Cities. Even I can’t explain that soccer season, except to say  Bob just loved to coach.

As if soccer wasn’t enough of a change, gymnastics came next. No, he wasn’t really coaching it, he just became something of a super fan once granddaughters Maggie and Abigail became quite proficient at the sport. No word yet on what younger grandchildren Elliot an Levy will pursue.

His friend and former player, Jerry Allred, simply says “think of the thousands of lives that Bob has touched or influenced”. 

I think it’s safe to say that no single person has given more time over the past 43 years to the youth of Royal City than Bob, and he loved doing it.

He may not have been a star, but he was a legend on the Royal Slope.

Current coach Wiley Allred (Jerry’s brother and another former player for Bob) called him “a great teacher, coach, advisor and friend” as he introduced Bob as a member of the Washington State Coaches Hall of Fame.

Wiley says he is still more comfortable calling him Coach Nielsen, or Mr. Nielsen. 

Wiley added “he was not the most gentle coach,  he was tough and so were his teams … He would motivate in many ways.  He used clip boards over my head and many others. He would also tell you when you did something right, or just put his arm around you”. 

It was always a family affair for the Nielsens. Son David playing football and wrestling with Margaret and Joann taking stats and scouting.   

David was a real star. Three state wrestling titles (second as a freshman), as well as a two-time state running back and linebacker. 

Tragedy hit the Nielsens hard in 1983 when David was killed in a freak skiing accident at Mission Ridge during his senior year. David was even a better person than athlete. It’s the kind of thing no one ever really recovers from, but the Nielsens fought back and went forward, even taking kids into their home and raising them as their own.

Things were tough after David’s death. Bob stepped down as head coach for five years before taking the head coaching job back in 1989 — losing only 15 games over his last 10 seasons (with 93 wins).

During that break, Bob and Margaret even took a sabbatical, teaching and coaching (basketball and track) for a year at an American school in Norway.

After retiring, Bob continued on for years as a volunteer football coach and did almost all of Royal’s weekly scouting.  While “his kids” played, Bob, Margaret, son-in-law Kim Delay and Joann were scouting other teams every week.

Bob was also the video expert, putting all the scouting films together: usually with a deadline of Sunday or Monday for coaches’ meetings. 

There goes another weekend. 

This might also be the perfect time for someone with the Royal School District to start compiling a history of sports and coaches at the high school. Not a single recording of Bob’s coaching history was available through the school or athletic director.

The football history provided here was provided by Wiley Allred. No one had any record for Bob’s years as head wrestling coach.

Royal has had an impressive history in football, wrestling and girl’s softball — but no place to learn about them. Sounds like a good senior class project, or donated time and information from Royal athletic boosters.

Away from all those jobs and duties, Bob was my golfing pal (he always beat me) my camping and cabin partner, and my constant fishing partner (here I could beat him, if he told the truth).  He would beat me at “horse” with a basketball, and at cards, though we were usually partners when we played all night Pinochle games with our wives. Putting it mildly, he was very, very competitive

About the “lying,” “telling the truth” part:  We had fished Montana streams together for years when he told me “Dick, if you caught 10, I caught 12. If your biggest fish was 18 inches, I had one 19.” 

Confused, I asked “Have you been lying all these years?” His response was a smirk and a “yes.” I forgave him years ago. I had to because we were friends. We knew each other better than brothers. We could tell each other our biggest secrets and our biggest fears. Nothing was ever held back when we talked, sometimes all night. 

After at least 35 years of knowing Bob, I have a few regrets.

I regret never being able to teach him how to cook (he did dishes well). I regret never beating him at golf. I regret the fish we didn’t catch, and the rivers we never fished. But mostly, I regret we’ll never have more time together at the cabin where we wasted away hundreds of hours talking, swatting at mosquitoes and watching the time go by.      

He was my best friend and I’m going to miss him.  I’ll never forget  him.

Dick Lowry is a former sports editor and managing editor for the Columbia Basin Herald, from 1971 to 1985.