Officer Nelke succumbed to gunshot wounds received 22 years earlier on January 28, 1951, when he was struck in the neck and paralyzed. He and four other officers had responded to a burglary in progress on Grandel Square and were met with gunfire as they exited the patrol car. The wounds caused Officer Nelke to become paralyzed. His death was ruled to be a direct result of the gunshot wound and paralysis.
Officer Nelke was survived by his wife, two daughter and two sons.
