Richard A. Nilsen, 82, peacefully passed into eternity from his home in Troy, Ohio, on Friday, May 3rd, after a brief illness. Rich was born in the bustling heart of Harlem, New York City, on July 29, 1941, the eldest child of Norwegian-American immigrants Ole and Anne Nilsen. After graduating from Hillcrest Academy, a boarding school nestled in the serene landscape of Fergus Falls, MN, he went on to study at the University of Connecticut and later earned a Masters of Education at Wright State University. Rich was a lifelong athlete, playing high school football, basketball, and many years of competitive softball; he also looked the part with his stout, Norwegian frame. But if Rich was built, his heart was larger still, filled with the love of Christ. An educator by vocation, he used his career to pour God's love into generations of lives, serving as a teacher, role model, and administrator. After thirty years of service, Rich retired from Dayton Public Schools in 1994 but couldn't quite stop teaching. Instead, he worked another eleven years mentoring the young people at West Central Juvenile Detention Center in Troy, where — we have it on good authority — he still routinely won games of "Horse." Rich and wife Mary opened the popular Night Sky Coffeehouse in Troy in 2003. If you spent any time there at all, you likely remember the Chicago Caramel Freeze, the Big Fat Chocolate Cake, and conversations with Rich Nilsen. With something like a photographic memory for names, dates and baseball stats, Rich knew a lot, but — to our knowledge — he never knew a stranger. Instead he invested his life in relationships, making others feel seen, heard and loved. On the kitchen wall of the Nilsen's Market Street home, a plaque reads, "Only one life, will soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last." Rich lived his life with a view of its ending, loving God and loving others. His race now finished, his influence in the lives of the thousands he touched is still very much alive. The world was made better for Rich's time in it. Proceeded in death by parents Ole and Anne Nilsen, and granddaughter Emmanuelle Gosser, Rich is survived by wife Mary Nilsen, brother Bill and Marcia Nilsen, sister Marilyn and Gunnleif Gundersen, sister Janice Nilsen, Sister Joan and Steve Heppner, son Marc and Kim Nilsen, daughter Jody Nilsen, son Aaron and Sarah Gosser, daughter PJ Dukes, and grandchildren Brandon, Marcel, Mia, Lola, Henry, Jonah, Silas, and Charlotte. Services will be held at Baird Funeral Home, 555 North Market, Troy Ohio, on Saturday, May 11th. Visitation beginning at 10:30 and service following at 12:00pm, and interment at Miami Memorial Park in Covington Ohio. Donations can be made to Ohio Hospice of Miami County.  Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.bairdfuneralhome.com.

Ohio's Hospice of Miami County
3230 N. County Road 25A, Troy OH 45373
Web: https://hospiceofmiamicounty.org