George W. Neilson was born on December 10, 1883, the last of five children to Robert and Kate. Kate died 5 days after George was born.

George was born to a wealthy family in the coalfield boom town of Pocahontas, VA. Years after Kate’s (George’s Mother) death, Robert (George’s father) remarried when George was 9 years old. They lived in a large home complete with 6 servants.

George was educated in his teens at an exclusive private school called Summit Academy in New Jersey.

He attended Ivy League Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and graduated in mechanical engineering in 1906 at the age of 23. He also showed an interest in journalism in college. His classmate and close friend Archie Walker graduated with him, also in engineering. Walker was from Minnesota, son of Minnesota timber baron T.B. Walker, who owned Walker Lumber Company. This is perhaps the connection that brought George to Minnesota. George was in Archie Walker’s wedding in June 1906, right after they graduated from Cornell.

His first job in Minnesota was for the Walker Lumber Company in Akeley, where George became fond of the Northern Minnesota outdoors. It can be assumed that his friend Archie was instrumental in George obtaining this job.

George worked for various Minneapolis based companies, primarily as a salesman, living in the Lake Calhoun (now Bde Maka Ska) area. He was successful and began purchasing real estate around Spearhead Lake in northern Minnesota in 1921 and continued purchasing additional parcels through 1939. This is the property that later became known as the Neilson Spearhead Center property. He utilized the property as a summer retreat while living in Minneapolis for much of his adult life.

George was active in the Minneapolis business community, spending time in leadership positions in many organizations, including the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts (fundraised to build the Art Museum), Rotary Club of Minneapolis, Minnesota Cornell Alumni Association, Minneapolis Boy Scouts, Minneapolis Ad Forum, Minneapolis Figure Skating Club (both George and Katherine were active skaters), and the Minneapolis Automobile Club.

George served with the American Red Cross in WW1 as a lieutenant in early 1919, returning when the war concluded. At 40 years old, he married Maude Delmar in 1924. She was 38. He worked in the wholesale auto parts business, eventually as half owner of Lansing-Neilson, Inc. Later, he was employed in various executive levels of management of the Lavoris Company (a chemical company), eventually becoming President, and retiring in 1942.

In addition to the Spearhead Lake property, George had acquired some land on Lake Marquette, adjacent to land owned by the Oak Hills Bible Institute. In 1929, he was approached by the Superintendent of Oak Hills about selling the land, as that organization had expansion plans that required additional real estate. George did not sell the property, he donated it to Oak Hills. He likely suspected that Oak Hills did not have the resources to buy the land. This property remains a part of the campus of what is now known as Oak Hills Christian College today.

In 1962, George established the George W. Neilson Foundation with a gift of 1,500 shares of 3M stock valued at about $100,000. He died shortly after in 1962. Maude died in 1963.

In 1964, the George W. Neilson Foundation funded the construction of the Neilson Reise arena, hosting skating and curling rinks. Local contractor Halvor Reise led volunteers to complete the construction.

Katherine was born in April of 1925 in Minneapolis. They lived in large houses in the Lake of the Isles area of Minneapolis, which contained a servant. They spent summers at their Spearhead Lake summer retreat. She went to school at a private school Derham Hall in St. Paul, a private catholic boarding school. This school would later merge with Cretin High School to become Cretin-Derham Hall. She attended college at the University of Minnesota.

She worked for a time (around 1944) as a school teacher in Wayzata, prior to becoming married.

She married Benjamin Cram in 1946. They moved to North Carolina for a time, then back to Minneapolis. They divorced in the early 1950’s. She eventually moved to Spearhead Lake property to live year around. The cabin she lived in on Spearhead Lake burned in 1968, and she moved to Lake Plantagenet. She lived there until her death in 2000.

During her life, she gave generously to various organizations, including the Cass Lake Fire Department and Bemidji State College. She was active in the local chapter of the Audubon Society. She loved spending her time at the Spearhead Lake property with nature.

Katherine chose to live a very conservative lifestyle and accumulated a significant amount of wealth during her lifetime, which she left to the Neilson Foundation upon her death. This allowed the Foundation to significantly expand its grant making impact on the Bemidji community, in accordance with her wishes.