Al Nelson made sure Minneapolis kids in need had shoes

Elmer (Al) Nelson, a partner in Narum's Shoe Store in south Minneapolis, made a point to give shoes to schoolkids who couldn't afford them.

Nelson, a longtime Minneapolis resident, died April 14 in Edina at age 89.

The store's partners "helped a lot of families in need by just donating the shoes," said his son, Stephen, of Edina.

They also gave jobs to hungry youngsters, let homebound folks take a bunch of pairs of shoes home to try on and stood by ill employees, according to a March 1985 article in the Star Tribune.

In the late 1930s, Nelson graduated with a chemistry degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., where he grew up.

He began working at the family shoe store in 1939, around the time he married Laura Narum. He went off to war in 1942, serving as a skipper of a minesweeper in the Pacific.

In 1946, not long after Nelson returned to Minneapolis, a 40-year partnership began when Al Nelson, his wife, Laura, her sister Margaret Narum Saterstrom and Margaret's husband, Stan Saterstrom, took over the family business. It had been co-founded by Nelson's mother-in-law, Marie (Thune) Narum, in 1912.

Nelson's wife died in 2004; his sister-in-law in 2000.

"We were partners for 40 years and we were still talking to each other," Stan Saterstrom said.

Nelson was a good communicator who believed in his employees and had a knack for getting good employees, his brother-in-law said.

Together, the foursome golfed, shared a lake home a few months out of the year, raised kids and sang in the choir at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.

In 1985, around the time of the store's closing, Nelson credited the sisters -- who began working in the store by the age of 12 -- with the partnership's success.

"This is the only place where wives taught their husbands the business and they're still married," Nelson told the Star Tribune at the time. "It's due to our wives. They have the greatest ability to get along."

Richard Erickson of Golden Valley first met Nelson 60 years ago when his parents took him shoe-shopping.

"You could be assured of a good fit," said Erickson, who even as a former Dayton's executive continued to buy shoes at Narum's. "The store was big on service," he said.

Nelson served in leadership roles in business and community groups, including the Greater Lake Street Council, the Southtown Exchange Club and the Boy Scouts of America. In retirement, he served on the board of his seniors cooperative apartment in Edina.

He was preceded in death by his daughter, Susan, in 1969.

Besides his son Stephen, Nelson is survived by four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Services have been held.

Ben Cohen • bcohen@startribune.com