{{Short description|American politician (1924–2020)}} {{about|the former U.S. Representative Howard C. Nielson|his son and the jurist|Howard C. Nielson Jr.}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Howard C. Nielson | image = Howard C. Nielson.jpg | state_senate = Utah | district = [[Utah's 16th State Senate district|16th]] | term_start = January 20, 1997 | term_end = December 31, 2000 | predecessor = Charles H. Stewart | successor = [[Curt Bramble]] | state1 = [[Utah]] | district1 = {{ushr|UT|3|3rd}} | term_start1 = January 3, 1983 | term_end1 = January 3, 1991 | predecessor1 = ''Constituency established'' | successor1 = [[Bill Orton]] | office2 = Speaker of the [[Utah House of Representatives]] | term_start2 = January 8, 1973 | term_end2 = January 12, 1975 | predecessor2 = [[Richard C. Howe]] | successor2 = [[Ronald L. Rencher]] | office3 = Member of the [[Utah House of Representatives]] | term_start3 = January 9, 1967 | term_end3 = January 12, 1975 | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | birth_name = Howard Curtis Nielson | birth_date = {{birth date|1924|09|12}} | birth_place = [[Richfield, Utah]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age |2020|05|20|1924|09|12}} | death_place = [[South Carolina]], U.S. | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | spouse = Julia Adams (died 2003)<br/>Donna Packard (2006–2015; her death) | children = 7 (including [[Howard C. Nielson Jr.|Howard Jr.]] and [[Jim Nielson|Jim]]) | alma_mater = [[University of Utah]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br/>[[University of Oregon]] ([[Master of Science|MS]])<br/>[[Stanford University]] ([[Master of Business Administration|MBA]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]]) | allegiance = {{flag|United States|1912}} | branch = [[United States Army Air Forces]] | service_years = 1943–1946 | rank = [[File:US Army WWII SGT.svg|25px]] [[Sergeant]] | battles = [[World War II]] }} '''Howard Curtis Nielson''' (September 12, 1924 – May 20, 2020) was an American politician in the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]. From 1983 to 1991, Nielson represented [[Utah|Utah's]] [[Utah's 3rd congressional district|3rd congressional district]] in the [[United States House of Representatives]].
==Early life== Nielson was born in [[Richfield, Utah]]; his paternal grandparents were immigrants from [[Denmark]].<ref> {{citation |url= https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH6K-2TT |title= United States Census, 1930 |website= [[FamilySearch]] |access-date=March 6, 2018 }}</ref> After graduating from Richfield High School in 1942,<ref>{{Citation | last = Haymond | first = Jay M. | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = NIELSON, HOWARD CURTIS | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/n/NIELSON_HOWARD.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241007114640/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/n/NIELSON_HOWARD.shtml | archive-date = October 7, 2024 | isbn =9780874804256 | access-date = June 7, 2025}}</ref> he served as a sergeant in the [[United States Army Air Forces]] during [[World War II]] from 1943 to 1946. He continued his education, earning his [[Bachelor of Science|B.S.]] from the [[University of Utah]] in 1947, [[Master of Science|M.S.]] from the [[University of Oregon]] in 1949, and [[Master of Business Administration|M.B.A.]] and [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D]] from [[Stanford University]] in 1956 and 1958, respectively.<ref name=congress>{{cite news|work=[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]|title=NIELSON, Howard Curtis, (1924 - )|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=n000106}}</ref>
He later founded the Department of Statistics at [[Brigham Young University]], Provo.
==Political career== Nielson first served in political office as a member of the [[Utah House of Representatives]] from 1967 to 1974, serving as Speaker of the House in his last term. He was an associate commissioner on the Utah Commission for Higher Education for two years. He was a delegate to the Utah State Republican Conventions from 1960 to 1982.<ref name=congress/>
He was elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] to the [[United States House of Representatives]] from [[Utah]] and served four terms, from January 3, 1983, to January 3, 1991. While in Congress, Nielson sponsored two resolutions calling on Israel to reopen Palestinian schools and colleges.<ref>''Deseret News'', February 1st, 1991</ref> In 1985 he was one of just two "nay" voters on a resolution urging [[Taiwan]] to extradite gangster [[Chen Chi-li]], who had murdered dissident journalist [[Henry Liu]] in San Francisco the previous year.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/99-1985/h49|title=House Vote #49 in 1985|publisher=govtrack.us|access-date=2012-07-27}}</ref><ref name="NYT19850418">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E0DA1138F93BA25757C0A963948260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/M/Murders%20and%20Attempted%20Murders|title=Taiwan Rejects Request by U.S. for 2 Convicts|date=1985-04-18|access-date=2008-01-06|work=The New York Times}}</ref> He also cosponsored a bill to limit tobacco advertising.<ref>''Deseret News'' June 27th, 1990</ref> He also was a leading proponent of releasing the names of people who tested positive for [[AIDS]] to Public Health Officials.<ref>''Deseret News'' June 14th, 1990</ref> Nielson was also one of the main negotiators of the 1990 Clean Air Act.<ref>''Deseret News'' May 24th, 1990</ref> Nielson was an early promoter of rating of song lyrics.<ref>''Deseret News'', April 25th, 1990</ref>
In 1996, Nielson was elected to the [[Utah State Senate]].<ref name="ReferenceA">''Deseret Morning News'', October 8th, 2006</ref> He retired from Congress so he could serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his wife. They served as missionaries in both [[Australia]] and [[Hungary]].<ref>[http://famousmormons.net/pol2.html Famous Mormons in Politics<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416235959/http://famousmormons.net/pol2.html|date=2008-04-16}}</ref>
==Personal life== Nielson and his wife Julia had seven children, three sons and four daughters.<ref>''Deseret News'' August 6th, 1990</ref>
Nielson's first wife died in 2003. He later married Donna Esther Brown, herself a widow and the sister of one of his former House colleagues, [[Ron Packard]] of California.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Donna died in 2015 of bone marrow cancer.<ref>[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/newsday/obituary.aspx?n=thomas-a-downey&pid=2404912 Obituary: Donna Esther Packard Brown Nielson] Published in ''The Salt Lake Tribune''. Retrieved March 6, 2018.</ref> Howard Nielson died on May 20, 2020, at the age of 95.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
One of Nielson's children, [[Howard C. Nielson Jr.|Howard Jr.]], is a Judge on the [[United States District Court for the District of Utah]] beginning in 2019.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170928222558/https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/09/28/president-donald-j-trump-announces-eighth-wave-judicial-candidates " President Donald J. Trump Announces Eighth Wave of Judicial Candidates" White House, September 28, 2017]</ref><ref>[https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=116&session=1&vote=00123 Roll Call Vote 116th Congress - 1st Session United States Senate Vote Summary: Vote Number 123, United States Senate, May 22, 2019]</ref>
==See also== * [[54th Utah State Legislature]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{congbio|N000106}} *{{C-SPAN|1888}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Utah | district=3 | new=district | years=1983–1991 | after=[[Bill Orton]] }} |- {{s-par|us-ut-sen}} {{s-bef|before=Charles H. Stewart}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[Utah State Senate]]<br>from the [[Utah's 16th State Senate district|16th]] district|years=1997–2001}} {{s-aft|after=[[Curt Bramble]]}} {{s-end}}
{{UtahUSRepresenatives}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielson, Howard Curtis}} [[Category:1924 births]] [[Category:2020 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Mormon missionaries]] [[Category:Latter Day Saints from Utah]] [[Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II]] [[Category:American Mormon missionaries in Australia]] [[Category:American Mormon missionaries in Hungary]] [[Category:American people of Danish descent]] [[Category:Brigham Young University faculty]] [[Category:Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives]] [[Category:Military personnel from Utah]] [[Category:People from Richfield, Utah]] [[Category:Politicians from Provo, Utah]] [[Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Utah]] [[Category:Speakers of the Utah House of Representatives]] [[Category:Stanford University alumni]] [[Category:United States Army Air Forces soldiers]] [[Category:University of Oregon alumni]] [[Category:University of Utah alumni]] [[Category:Republican Party Utah state senators]] [[Category:20th-century United States representatives]] [[Category:20th-century members of the Utah Legislature]]