Regimental Number: 3208311; 173481
Rank: Private
Branch: 1st Depot Battalion, Alberta Regiment; Royal Air Force
Nelius was born in Hankow, China on January 22, 1893 to missionary parents Halvor and Hannah Ronning. After Hannah died in 1907, Halvor came to Alberta with his young family. In 1911, Halvor married Gunhild Horte. Nelius filed on a homestead at NW 7-74-9-W6 in 1913. He was drafted in 1918, and in May was discharged in order to join the RAF. Nelius had attended the University of Alberta, specializing in geology. In May of 1920, he was selected as one of four assistant geologists to A. E. Cameron of the Imperial Oil Company in Edmonton. In September of 1920, on one of the survey trips on Great Slave Lake, Nelius and his companions were drowned in a sudden storm.
Sources: Pioneers of the Peace p. 257; Pioneer Round Up p. 685