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By Paulanne Urleig - April 1, 2005
To many people, Doris and Doug Nelson both led charmed lives. Their good looks, charm, and sophistication left a big impression on everyone they met. This is their story of charmed lives, turned horribly tragic. Douglas Nelson brought himself up from a poor childhood and achieved his dream of becoming a professional golfer . Born to Dutch immigrant parents, Nelson was sent to live in the Philadelphia city orphanage at age 8. Records from the orphanage show that Nelson refused to speak during his first 15 months at the orphanage and continued to have communication problems throughout his stay. In 1942, at age 16, Nelson left the orphanage when he enlisted with the Army. Stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Nelson was assigned to act as the driver for the base Commander, Brigadier General Howard H. Wilson. General Wilson was an avid golfer who spent most of his time at the golf course, playing up to three rounds each day. As the General's driver, Nelson also became his caddy and spent his time on the golf course with the general. General Wilson began to teach Nelson how to play golf, and Nelson showed real talent. He began to win local tournaments and travelled throughout the mid west, supported by the General. Eventually General Howard used his influence to get Nelson a spot on the PGA tour. This opened a door in the world of professional golf that was rare for someone of Nelson's impoverished background. Nelson excelled on the PGA tour, six times coming in second place to Sam Snead in major tournaments between 1951 and 1957. Nelson was able to live off of his earnings, but he told other golfers, "Being second best is a good way to live poor." Doris Williams was the daughter of a wealthy businessman who owned the largest chain of automobile dealerships in Texas. At age 19, in 1959, Doris was living the life of a debutante, dividing her time between the most exclusive social circles in Dallas and attending class at Texas Women's University. Doris was pretty, with auburn hair and fair complexion. Though Doris was usually bubbly and outgoing, she was prone to bouts of depression. Her family doctor prescribed a combination of lithium and methamphetamines. According to Ellen Sanders, a fellow student at TWU, Doris called this her 'vacation in a bottle.' In the year that Ellen Sanders knew Doris Williams, Doris was taken to the hospital on three occasions after overdosing on a combination of medication and alcohol. In 1953, when Doris was 13 years old, her mother took her own life. Louise Williams had checked into a sea side hotel in Corpus Christi and lived apart from her family for nine months. During this time, it was said that she was living with a fast crowd, mostly young men. Six times during her stay, hotel management called the Corpus Christi police department to break up parties hosted in Mrs. Williams room. On December 18, 1953, Louise William's nude body was found in the bathtub. She had consumed two bottles of Scotch and slit her wrists. An autopsy showed that Mrs. Williams was four months pregnant at the time of her death.
According to Ellen Sanders, Doris had problems with her father during her time at TWU. "Doris would get all drunk, and take her pills, and then she would just start talking. She told me that after her mother died, her father would start to come around her room at night looking for sex. Doris had a real hate for her father, and for most men. I never did see her have a boyfriend for more than just a few weeks. Once I saw her after she spent a weekend at home. I saw bruises on her back and I asked her what happened. She told me that she 'learned it was just best to give her father what he wanted'." In the winter of 1959, 14 PGA professionals including Doug Nelson came to Dallas to take advantage of the climate to practice for the upcoming season. The golfers usually spent their nights out on the town, drinking and carousing. During this time, Doug and Doris ran across each other on a few different occasions. Usually cold and stand offish towards men, Doris seemed intrigued by the golfers, and she spent many night with them at Dallas nightclubs. She seemed especially fond of Doug, and they became an 'item' after only a few weeks. The 14-year age difference did not seem to make any difference to either of them. Ellen Sanders said that during this time, Doris seemed elated because she saw the golfers as a ticket out of Texas and away from her father. On Valentine's Day 1959 Doris told Ellen, "Well honey, I'm going to be leaving this damn place and my bastard of a father. Just you see, I'll be gone by April." Doris was right. On April 3rd, after two and a half months of courtship, Doug and Doris were engaged. They married in a quick wedding two weeks later, with Ellen Sanders and Doris's brother James in attendance. On April 27, Doris and Doug left Dallas, joining the PGA tour in Brookline, Massachusetts. Doug confided in his golfing buddies that while Doris was beautiful, she was not interested in sex. Doug told his caddy, "If she ain't drunk, she just won't do it. If I were you I would invest in Seagram's whiskey, because that's what I spend all of my money on." Sex was not the only problem between the couple. Many of the other golfers on the tour had heard the couple arguing about money. Doris had thought that a professional golfer would be earning more than the $200 a tournament that Doug frequently made. Placing higher would earn more, but Doug had been playing poorly so far in the season. Other golfers swore that Doris was the problem, putting too much pressure on Doug. Doug's old partner, Kyle 'Chubby' Melnic, said, "His head wasn't in the game anymore - all he thought about was that broad, and it killed him on the course." The next five years went by with Doug scratching out a meager living. The couple moved from town to town, staying in motels. Doris's only concession was that she learned to cook breakfast. She still insisted that they eat out for dinner every night. In 1964, Doris received a telegram from her brother James. Their father had collapsed at work and died from a massive heart attack. James requested that Doris return to Texas for the funeral. While Doris returned to Texas by bus, Doug stayed on to play a tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. He placed 73rd in a field of 80 golfers and failed to earn a place in the tournament and the minimum $200 paycheck. Doug joined Doris in Texas shortly after the funeral. The lawyers for Lucas Williams estate had mixed news for the Williams children. James Williams inherited the Williams auto dealership chain, but it was found that the business had been surviving on loans and was bankrupt. The family home had been mortgaged beyond its current value. Doris fared better. Her father left her his remaining investments, government bonds worth $110,000. He also left her his 1964 Ford Fairlane, his only possession not mortgaged to a bank. James thought it was ironic, because Doris had never learned to drive.
Doug returned to the tour and failed to make the cut in any tournaments during the rest of 1964. Knowing that Doug's golf career was over, and with Doris's inheritance at their disposal, the Williams couple bought a house in California sight unseen. Their new home was two miles east of Woodland, a small farming community outside of Sacramento. Soon after moving in, Doris wrote a letter back to her friend Ellen Sanders. She told Ellen, "I hate this place. It is as bad as Texas, flat, hot and dry. When Doug told me we were moving to California, I didn't know it would be like this. I have not seen movie stars, or anyone famous. The town is full of farmers and Mexicans. I don't have a phone, and we can't even listen to the radio." Moving to California had not helped the Nelson's relationship at all. Being isolated together caused them to fight and argue even more than before. Because Doug had stopped golfing and Doris had received the inheritance, the power in their relationship had reversed. Doug was forced to ask Doris anytime he needed money. Doris became very demeaning towards Doug, chiding him for not bringing in an income. Doris also became more and more despondent. She stopped taking her lithium pills and she began to drink more. In fact, the only time that the couple really spent together was when Doris ran out of her Seagram's scotch. The two of them would get in the car, not saying a word to each other. Doris would give Doug six dollars to go into the Starlight Market. Doug would buy a quart of Seagram's V. O. and spend the rest of the money on whatever food he could get. Doris regularly sent letters to her college roomate Ellen Sanders about her life. On July 29, 1966, Doris wrote: "This pathetic husband of mine can't even get a job, nobody wants to hire a failed golfer. He wants me to have sex with him, but to me he is like a little bug, or a little worm! Now I am stuck supporting him with MY money. God knows I EARNED every cent of this inheritance." On July 30, 1966 Doris showed up at the Starlight Market by herself. Owner Pete Goodall recalls, "Mrs. Nelson came in that day- I knew it was her because I recognized the car. It was the first time I really saw her - she never got out of the car before. She's a tall, good lookin' lady though. So she comes in and she's mad, really fuming. She wants to know where the Seagram's is. I reach up to the shelf behind me, and get a bottle - I tell her that it will be $2.75. She says 'no, not just one bottle - I want all of it.' I mean, I had six bottles on the shelf and she took them all." Doris got back into the Fairlane and pointed the car towards Highway 16. She mashed the gas and sent a plume of dirt and dust into the air, barreling onto the highway, she swerved right into oncoming traffic. Pablo Mendez had a wife and three kids in his hometown of Durango, Mexico. Each year he came up to Woodland to work the tomato harvest. He could earn enough money in just three months to give his family a comfortable lifestyle back home in Durango. This was his first season driving the truck, and he was happy not to do the back-breaking job of picking tomatoes. Pablo was heading toward Woodland on a route he drove more than ten times a day, the truck was fully loaded with tomatoes, and he was traveling at 50 miles per hour. When Doris swerved onto the road, Pablo turned the wheel of the truck as quickly as he could. The truck began to turn, but the inertia of the fully loaded trailers caused the truck and trailers to tip onto their sides, sliding down the road into the path of the Ford Fairlane. Doris never slowed down. She plowed right into the rear trailer, smashing her car into the tomatoes that were spilling from the truck. The car stopped when it hit the trailer. Doris flew through the windshield, her face was torn apart by the glass, and her body slammed into the trailer. Her twisted carcass fell to the ground like a rag doll. Doris was rushed to the Woodland Hospital. She had multiple fractures in her legs and compound fractures in her arms. Her left hand was hanging from her wrist, held by two tendons. She had broken her back in multiple places. Her face had thirty deep lacerations requiring stitches. The emergency room doctor, Alphonse Phelps, later said that Doris Nelson should have died from any one of six or seven injuries. "It's amazing that she should survive. She was given a second chance and she should cherish this life." When Doris left the hospital, she had completely lost the use of both legs. Her left hand had been amputated. Her right arm was usable, but very weak. She could only see out of one eye, and her face was scarred beyond recognition. The one thing that was still remaining seemed to be her hatred of Doug. ....(Continue to page 2)
Continue to page 2 of the Doris Nelson Tragedy (2 pages total)
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