Victor Nelson, founder of Sector Microwave Industries, dies at 98
Victor Nelson, the inventor and engineer who founded Sector Microwave Industries in Deer Park, died on Nov. 29 at age 98. He also co-founded St. Luke Lutheran Church in Dix Hills. Credit: Nelson family
In the marvels of the universe and his earthly struggles, Victor Nelson saw the hand of God, a power that guided his design of patent-winning communications switches for spacecraft and satellites, his family said.
The inventor and engineer founded Sector Microwave Industries in Deer Park, whose magnet-based switches helped ensure that images and information would be beamed back from NASA rovers, the Cassini spacecraft exploring Saturn and communications satellites.
The U.S. Defense Department even lauded his role in spy satellites that helped capture 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, his children said.
“Me and God make a good team,” Nelson would joke, and he considered spreading his blessings as part of the deal, his family said.
“Even though he became very successful, he was a regular guy and was very humble about it,” recalled son Bill Nelson of Dix Hills. “He’d give the glory to God, that God helped him through tough times.”
Victor Nelson, of East Northport, was still working at age 98 until a series of health problems this fall. He died on Nov. 29, a few weeks after celebrating his birthday.
Nelson was in his 40s when he helped his Cub Scout sons design a derby car, using magnets’ pull-and-repel forces to make the wheels go faster, his children said.
At the time, he worked for a company that made switches for the defense, medical and other industries, and he realized magnets would never lose power, rust or break like metal springs.
His switches were bought by Grumman Corp., AT&T and the European Space Agency, those who knew him said, but NASA was one of his biggest clients. If one system for transmitting data through microwaves failed, NASA could direct the magnetic switch to turn on a backup system.
“When I had to get switches, I got them from Victor because I was convinced his was the best,” said Stanley Butman, who worked with Nelson for four decades and is a retired manager from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which oversaw Mars missions. “He was a genius, an originator, an inventor first class.”
Nelson, a Purdue University graduate with a master’s in electrical engineering, ended up with about 20 patents, his children said.
“He was always tinkering, playing around with equipment, trying to build prototypes,” Bill Nelson said. “He was always trying to look at solutions."
Victor Nelson put rubber on the outside of football helmets to help fight concussions. He designed a portable device to improve golfers’ swings. He built a bike with a magnet-powered assist, but naysayers said that defeated the purpose of exercising.
The fourth of five children, Nelson persevered through challenges in the first half of his life, his family said. During the Great Depression, schoolmates ridiculed him because of the donated clothing he wore, his son recounted.
In 1943, during World War II, he was drafted into the Navy at age 18 and served as a radar operator for an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean. In the 1950s, an electrical fire burned down his Bethpage home, but he was able to get his four sleeping children out.
In the late 1960s, he worked with a machine shop owner, inventing and patenting his magnet-based switch, but he left in 1974 after a falling-out over a partnership, his son said.
That breakup was the best thing that happened to him, Victor Nelson told his children.
With one machinist as the sole employee, he set up Sector Motors in 1974 but changed the name a few years later after getting so many calls about car repairs, his son said.
“He remembered where he came from,” Bill Nelson said. “He accumulated some good wealth, but he wanted to give that back to so many people.”
The businessman paid for a neighbor’s college tuition, medical bills for a fellow churchgoer, financial support for a missionary in Indonesia, employees’ bills and more, his friends said. He also co-founded St. Luke Lutheran Church in Dix Hills in 1962, they said.
“He had the persona of the neighborhood shop owner, the friendly postman or the neighbor who would always help you out, no questions asked,” Doug Geed, a member of the church and a News 12 Long Island anchor, wrote on his Facebook page.
But most rewarding was the empire Nelson built with his wife, Patricia, whom Nelson hitchhiked 150 miles to see during his college days, before they married in 1947. The couple had eight children, 26 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, and Nelson paid several times for everyone to vacation together.
“ ‘Eight kids and not a lemon in the bunch,’ ” Bill Nelson remembered him saying. “He was such a loving father. He’d say, ‘I love Billy so much that I wish he was twins.’ ”
Besides his son, Victor Nelson is survived by his children Sue Schubert of Abington, Pennsylvania; Vic Nelson Jr. of upstate Cairo; Patti Nelson Reade of Portland, Maine; and Laura Leonard, Tom Nelson, Marijean Buhse and Nancy Grosskurth, all of Dix Hills. Nelson's wife predeceased him in 2013.
A service was held Monday at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Dix Hills, followed by burial at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale.
In the marvels of the universe and his earthly struggles, Victor Nelson saw the hand of God, a power that guided his design of patent-winning communications switches for spacecraft and satellites, his family said.
The inventor and engineer founded Sector Microwave Industries in Deer Park, whose magnet-based switches helped ensure that images and information would be beamed back from NASA rovers, the Cassini spacecraft exploring Saturn and communications satellites.
The U.S. Defense Department even lauded his role in spy satellites that helped capture 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, his children said.
“Me and God make a good team,” Nelson would joke, and he considered spreading his blessings as part of the deal, his family said.
“Even though he became very successful, he was a regular guy and was very humble about it,” recalled son Bill Nelson of Dix Hills. “He’d give the glory to God, that God helped him through tough times.”
Victor Nelson, of East Northport, was still working at age 98 until a series of health problems this fall. He died on Nov. 29, a few weeks after celebrating his birthday.
Nelson was in his 40s when he helped his Cub Scout sons design a derby car, using magnets’ pull-and-repel forces to make the wheels go faster, his children said.
At the time, he worked for a company that made switches for the defense, medical and other industries, and he realized magnets would never lose power, rust or break like metal springs.
His switches were bought by Grumman Corp., AT&T and the European Space Agency, those who knew him said, but NASA was one of his biggest clients. If one system for transmitting data through microwaves failed, NASA could direct the magnetic switch to turn on a backup system.
“When I had to get switches, I got them from Victor because I was convinced his was the best,” said Stanley Butman, who worked with Nelson for four decades and is a retired manager from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which oversaw Mars missions. “He was a genius, an originator, an inventor first class.”
Nelson, a Purdue University graduate with a master’s in electrical engineering, ended up with about 20 patents, his children said.
“He was always tinkering, playing around with equipment, trying to build prototypes,” Bill Nelson said. “He was always trying to look at solutions."
Victor Nelson put rubber on the outside of football helmets to help fight concussions. He designed a portable device to improve golfers’ swings. He built a bike with a magnet-powered assist, but naysayers said that defeated the purpose of exercising.
The fourth of five children, Nelson persevered through challenges in the first half of his life, his family said. During the Great Depression, schoolmates ridiculed him because of the donated clothing he wore, his son recounted.
During World War II, Victor Nelson was drafted into the Navy at age 18 and served as a radar operator for an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Nelson family
In 1943, during World War II, he was drafted into the Navy at age 18 and served as a radar operator for an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean. In the 1950s, an electrical fire burned down his Bethpage home, but he was able to get his four sleeping children out.
In the late 1960s, he worked with a machine shop owner, inventing and patenting his magnet-based switch, but he left in 1974 after a falling-out over a partnership, his son said.
That breakup was the best thing that happened to him, Victor Nelson told his children.
With one machinist as the sole employee, he set up Sector Motors in 1974 but changed the name a few years later after getting so many calls about car repairs, his son said.
“He remembered where he came from,” Bill Nelson said. “He accumulated some good wealth, but he wanted to give that back to so many people.”
The businessman paid for a neighbor’s college tuition, medical bills for a fellow churchgoer, financial support for a missionary in Indonesia, employees’ bills and more, his friends said. He also co-founded St. Luke Lutheran Church in Dix Hills in 1962, they said.
“He had the persona of the neighborhood shop owner, the friendly postman or the neighbor who would always help you out, no questions asked,” Doug Geed, a member of the church and a News 12 Long Island anchor, wrote on his Facebook page.
But most rewarding was the empire Nelson built with his wife, Patricia, whom Nelson hitchhiked 150 miles to see during his college days, before they married in 1947. The couple had eight children, 26 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, and Nelson paid several times for everyone to vacation together.
“ ‘Eight kids and not a lemon in the bunch,’ ” Bill Nelson remembered him saying. “He was such a loving father. He’d say, ‘I love Billy so much that I wish he was twins.’ ”
Besides his son, Victor Nelson is survived by his children Sue Schubert of Abington, Pennsylvania; Vic Nelson Jr. of upstate Cairo; Patti Nelson Reade of Portland, Maine; and Laura Leonard, Tom Nelson, Marijean Buhse and Nancy Grosskurth, all of Dix Hills. Nelson's wife predeceased him in 2013.
A service was held Monday at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Dix Hills, followed by burial at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale.
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Newsday Live Music Series: Long Island Idols Newsday Live presents a special evening of music and conversation with local singers who grabbed the national spotlight on shows like "The Voice," "America's Got Talent,""The X-Factor" and "American Idol." Newsday Senior Lifestyle Host Elisa DiStefano leads a discussion and audience Q&A as the singers discuss their TV experiences, careers and perform original songs.
