David E. Nelson '81 Memorial Scholarship

The scholarship fund for David E. Nelson was established in 1981. David was a senior and captain of the hockey team that year. He had accepted a scholarship to Lowell University (now the University of Massachusetts Lowell) to continue his hockey career and education. Tragically, David never made it to Lowell that September, passing away two weeks before his graduation after being involved in a car accident on May 18, 1981. In his honor and memory, Austin Prep retired his Number 10 hockey jersey and it remains, to this day, the only number ever retired by the school. The Lowell roster carried David’s name for the next four years commemorating his loss.

The Nelson family had been a fixture in the Austin community before David’s death and remains so to this day. In fact, David was the third Nelson to play hockey at Austin, following in the footsteps of brothers Fred ’73 and Ron ’75. All three brothers share in a bit of unprecedented hockey history at the school, as they were each elected to serve as captain of the hockey team during their respective senior years.

The mission of the David Nelson Scholarship Fund is to raise money in order to grant annual scholarships to student athletes at Austin Prep who have demonstrated a need through a personal hardship. Students are encouraged to apply each year through the school and applications are forwarded to the Nelson family for consideration. With the help of many friends and family, the scholarship is the oldest and largest of it’s kind at Austin.
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