Gray_Nelson
Gray Nelson
New Zealand public servant and diplomat (1927–2022)
Graydon Brian Nelson QSO (8 May 1927 – 29 November 2022) was a New Zealand public servant and diplomat.
Gray Nelson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Graydon Brian Nelson (1927-05-08)8 May 1927 |
| Died | 29 November 2022(2022-11-29) (aged 95) |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse |
Mary Butler O’Connell
(m. 1956; died 2005) |
| Children | 3 |
Nelson spent his childhood in Taranaki, then the Auckland suburb of Epsom, and was educated at St Peter's College where he was a foundation pupil in 1939.[1][2]
In 1956, Nelson married Mary Butler O’Connell, and the couple had three children.[2]
Nelson began working in the Department of Lands and Survey in 1952 and later at Parliament,[3] and was private secretary to five New Zealand prime ministers: Keith Holyoake,[4] Jack Marshall, Norman Kirk,[3] Bill Rowling, and Robert Muldoon.[2][5] He also held the diplomatic position of counsellor at the New Zealand High Commission to the United Kingdom between 1978 and 1981.[5] He was senior representative and life member of the Government Superannuitants Association and also a life member of Bellamy's.[2]
In retirement, Nelson lived in Greytown. He died on 29 November 2022, aged 95, having been predeceased by his wife in 2005.[2][6]
In 1977, Nelson was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal.[7] In the 1987 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.[8]
- Gray Nelson, "Memories of my Catholic Education", Tui Motu: InterIslands Issue 263, September 2021, p. 21.
- "Graydon Nelson obituary". Dominion Post. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- Grant, David (2014), The Mighty Totara: The Life and Times of Norman Kirk, Auckland, NZ: Random House, p. 227, ISBN 978-1-77553-579-9
- Farmer, Don (27 February 2015). "Dame Thea: Good friend who liked a chat". Wairarapa Times-Age. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- R.D. Muldoon, Muldooon, A H & A W Reed, Wellington, 1977, p. 142.
- "In memory of Mary Butler Nelson". Tributes Online. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). "Recipients of the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal 1977: nominal roll of New Zealand recipients including Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau". Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 431. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
- "No. 50766". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 31 December 1986. p. 34.
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