SACRAMENTO, Calif. — This week, the U.S. Marshals Service for the Eastern District of California honored a retired chief deputy and prolific artist.
Born in Sacramento, Mike Nelson’s paintings are displayed at U.S. Marshals offices across the country.
On Wednesday, the Eastern District of California unveiled the Michael R. Nelson Art Gallery and Training Room. It features four prints of Nelson’s paintings depicting the history of the U.S. Marshals Service and four original landscapes of Northern California, including Lake Tahoe, Mt. Shasta and Yosemite Falls.
“It is a big honor,” Nelson told ABC10 at a dedication ceremony, adding, “I really don't think I deserve it. There's so many people that are here that, without them, I wouldn't be here. You know, they're the ones that made it possible.”
Nelson served for 30 years in the Eastern District of California, including as Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal. Prior to that, he worked as a Sacramento police officer, where he was seriously injured by a gunshot to the chest while responding to an armed robbery.
“Somebody robbed Marie's Donut Shop for $70, and I happened to catch him,” Nelson said. “He got me. I got him. He survived, you know, but he got me right here in the chest. We didn't have a vest back then; that didn't come about until about 10 years later.”
At Wednesday’s ceremony, Nelson gave an emotional speech, thanking Acting U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of California, Lasha Boyden, for spearheading this project and his friends, family and former colleagues for coming to honor him.
“I'm just glad that he's happy and he's proud of the room that we created for him,” Boyden told ABC10. “I think that's the biggest thing was honoring him and making sure that he just absolutely loves it. And I feel like we did a good job.”
This isn’t just a retirement hobby. Nelson said he was actively painting while working for the Marshals Service.
His work has been featured in a traveling Smithsonian exhibit for the U.S. Marshals Service, and several of his original works are on permanent display at the Marshals Service headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington DC.
Boyden said the idea came when she asked about a couple of prints hanging in the Eastern District’s offices. When someone informed her the artist was not only a former U.S. Chief Deputy Marshal but one who had served in the Eastern District, she knew she had to commemorate his work somehow. The idea started as installing a plaque and grew to dedicating an entire meeting room to him, turning it into a permanent gallery for eight of his paintings.
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