Lloyd Nielsen led the Roseville school district through times of rapid growth and shrinking student enrollment. Throughout, he remained a believer in supporting the arts and trying out new ideas in education.

A nationally recognized school leader, Nielsen died of complications from Alzheimer's disease this month, 10 years after the district renamed its auditorium after him. He was 88.

At a time of higher district administrator turnover, Nielsen, a father of three, stands out for his longevity in education and his dedication to Roseville schools.

"He loved Roseville," said daughter Mary Nielsen. "His tenure there was his proudest achievement outside of his family."

Nielsen grew up in the home of a Racine, Wis., Danish immigrant who sent all four sons and daughters to college. He started his education career as a history teacher and coach after serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He went on to earn a doctorate from Harvard University. Stints as an assistant superintendent in Minnetonka and the leader of a rural West Virginia district followed.

In 1967, Nielsen, his wife, Clareanne, and their children moved to Roseville, where he took over the growing district. During his tenure, enrollment hit a high of about 13,000 students — and then dropped off sharply as younger families branched out farther east. Nielsen deftly led the district through a period of building new schools and expanding programs, and later through tough budget cuts.

Mary Nielsen says her father had left for work by the time the school bus picked her and her siblings up. He always had dinner with his family, often talking about classrooms he had visited and students he'd met. Then he headed back to the office.

Laura Berkas, Nielsen's other daughter and a Roseville teacher, says retired educators still come up to her to tell her what a patient, respectful listener her father was — a skill that allowed him to work well with a series of school boards and union leaders.

When Roseville Superintendent John Thein started 17 years ago, he was impressed by a legacy of the Nielsen tenure: All schools had arts, music and physical education specialists; orchestra started early, in the fourth grade.

Nielsen, who left the district and became a consultant in 1986, served as a mentor to Thein. He often told him a district is like a bus: You need to hire the right people, put them in the right seats and trust them. An innovator in his own right, Nielsen encouraged Thein to welcome new ideas, including launching a dual-language Spanish immersion program and a year-round school.

"Lloyd embraced change in education, and that's sometimes unusual," said Thein.

After retiring from the district, Nielsen also served as senior fellow at the University of Minnesota, where he worked on strengthening the link between public schools and colleges. He continued to enjoy travel, horses and skiing. He was a past president of the Minnesota and national chapters of the Association of School Administrators and was named one of the nation's Top 100 administrators by Executive Educator magazine.

In 2004, the district hosted a ceremony celebrating Nielsen's tenure and renamed the Roseville Area High School auditorium the Lloyd C. Nielsen Performing Arts Center. Says Berkas, "It was a really proud time for my dad."

He was preceded in death by his wife. Besides his daughters he is survived by a son, Peter, of White Bear Lake, sister Betty Erickson and six grandchildren. Services have been held.

Mila Koumpilova • 612-673-4781