Kind. Quiet. Reliable.
Attributes that came up again and again from those who knew Ken Nelson, the longtime Publication Center specialist at Salt Lake Community College who died in July.
Brenda Sieczkowski, associate professor and director of the Publication Center, said Nelson often worked behind the scenes, but that his role was essential.
“When Ken was here, to me, he was like the beating heart of the center,” Sieczkowski said.
“Ken would be … figuring out, ‘Okay, how do we do this?’” she said. “He was the person who was here when a student just wandered in, kind of desperate for help with a project.”
Sieczkowski said Nelson did much of the “heavy lifting” when the center was created and continued to do so throughout his career, including building tools and figuring out how everything worked.
Melissa Helquist, professor of English, linguistics and writing studies, said that when the center was being built, there weren’t many guidelines. Even so, she said Nelson always found a way to make things work.
“I think a place like that is a lot about creativity and functional knowledge,” Helquist said. “He was really good at bringing those together … He did that consistently.”
Helquist said Nelson’s natural resourcefulness came through when issues came up.
“We have a metal book press, but we needed lots of those,” she said. “So, he just made them out of wood … Or we would get a new piece of equipment that faculty would want, but nobody would know how to use it. So, he [would] teach himself how to do it and then teach everyone else.”
Sieczkowski described the center as “almost an extension of him.”
“He knew where everything was, and that’s no small feat in a place like this where we have such limited storage … he had to get pretty ingenious.”
Clint Gardner, director of the Student Writing and Reading Center, remembers Nelson as “the person who held the place together.”
“It’s just like a quiet presence in many ways,” he said. “He definitely did a lot to keep, in particular, publication studies going and that portion of the Writing Studies degree.”
“He was like the beating heart of the center,”
-Brenda Sieczkowski, associate professor and director of the Publication Center, speaking about colleague Ken Nelson
Showing up for students
Gardner said Nelson used his “ample amounts of expertise” when helping students with all kinds of projects.
“He brought a lot to the students who worked with him.”
Helquist described Nelson as being a calming presence when working with students.
“Just in that kindness,” she said. “It was like ‘I’m here for whatever you need and I’m going to treat you with respect — I’m going to give you my energy and my attention.’”
Gardner echoed this.
“I think that being there [for others] in many ways was his strength.”
Helquist recalled reading through student comments on course evaluations after teaching publication studies last year.
“[They] just always mentioned Ken’s quiet support and his always being there to help them with whatever they needed,” said Helquist. “He was so essential just in showing up for them.”
Viktor Alonzo, a visual art and design student, said Nelson’s absence has negatively impacted the Publication Center.
“His presence will be missed,” said Alonzo, noting the center needs full-time staff with Nelson’s expertise
“It hurt to know that he passed, knowing he had plans, knowing he was ready to retire,” said Alonzo. “I know that tomorrow is never promised, but that won’t stop me from mourning what could have been.”
Remembering the small moments
Gardner said he misses the early-morning chats with Nelson, when it was often just the two of them.
“He was one of the few people who would get here as early as I do,” he said. “I just miss those casual conversations about things that were going on, particularly in the Publication Center.”
Sieczkowski said she misses Nelson’s sense of humor—a side she saw often because they spent so much time working together.
“I heard him laugh and maybe a lot of people didn’t,” she said. “We might run into some ridiculous situation with equipment or something … He had a really good sense of humor. I do miss that.”
She said she also misses his ringtone, which he would forget to silence.
“Oh my god, his ringtone was chickens,” she said, laughing. “The first couple times I was like, what is going on? But then it became familiar — like, oh, the chicken alert has gone out!”
Colleagues said Nelson’s work remains evident in the Publication Center through the tools he built, the spaces he labeled and the equipment he taught himself and others how to use, but what they will miss most is his quiet, everyday presence.
