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WILTON, Conn. -- Thomas Nessel, a lifelong resident of Wilton, died recently. He was 63.
Nessel was the son of Charles E. and Mary E. Nessel. He graduated from Wilton High School in 1968, Yale University in 1972 and the University of Indiana law school. He practiced law in Bethel until a rare cancer forced him to leave the profession.
Over the years, he also coached golf at Joel Barlow High School and Western Connecticut State University in Danbury.
With golf as his main hobby, Nessel immersed himself in golf history, literature, equipment and instruction. He wrote, but never published, a book on the golf swing, claiming to have cracked the elusive code that separates the elite golfers from everyone else. He said he did not reveal his findings because “it will make the game too easy and probably ruin the game for most people.”
An all-state basketball player while at Wilton High, Nessel always thought it amusing that he still holds the all-time points scored record at 1,072. “Forty-five years is too long for any record to stand,” he recently quipped.
He is survived by his younger brother John and wife JoAnn Nessel of Wilton and his older brother Charles Edward Jr. and wife Leona Nessel of Bethel; nieces Pam Nessel of Norwalk and Christa Nessel of Wilton; and nephews Charles Edward Nessel III of Bethel and Douglas Nessel of Bethel.
Bouton Funeral Home handled the arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Sacred Hearth Parish P.O. Box 388 Georgetown, CT 06829.
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