The Observer, July, 2008

Former Valdez city councilman and council director dies in accident

The citizens’ council is saddened to report that former Valdez city councilman and former council board member Rich Nielsen died May 27 on a Canadian highway when an oncoming driver swerved into his lane and forced his motorcycle off the road.

Nielsen was 62 when he died at the scene, off the Alaska Highway near Beaver Creek, just across the border in the Yukon Territory, after the accident.

Nielsen, who served on the Valdez city council for six years, was on his way to the Hyder Motorcycle Rally with a friend. The oncoming driver told investigators she swerved into Nielsen’s lane trying to avoid an object in the road.

Nielsen was seated to council’s board in 2002 representing the City of Valdez and was also a member of the POVTS Committee. He resigned from the council in 2004.

Nielsen had recently retired from working in the oil transportation and measurement business. Before that he spent 21 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, including service in Valdez.

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