Officer Nelke succumbed to gunshot wounds received 22 years earlier on January 28, 1951, when gunfire struck him in the neck. 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 left Officer Nelke paralyzed. His death was ruled to be a direct result of the gunshot wound and paralysis.

Officer Nelke was survived by his wife, two daughters and two sons.