Nick Nurse was years away from coaching in the NBA but that didn’t matter to his older brother Steve, who was his little brother’s biggest fan.

“I was in Steve’s room once and his brother wasn’t even a bag of chips,” said Mark Farley. “But Steve would watch everything. He was in the C League or the D League and Steve would talk about that. He was as proud about those wins as he was about when Nick won the championship.”

Steve Nurse, the older brother of the Sixers coach and a longtime equipment manager at the University of Northern Iowa who went to church every morning and loved the Chicago Cubs, died April 29. He was 62.

Mr. Nurse was four years older than the Sixers coach, making him like a mentor to his younger brother. Nick Nurse said before he had a coach, he had a brother.

“We were inseparable as kids,” Nick said. “We did everything together, whether that be us out fishing, him tossing me batting practice at the park, him rebounding for me, he was always looking out for me. With Steve, before I had a coach, I had an older brother.”

Mr. Nurse was an assistant equipment manager before graduating from Northern Iowa in 1988 with a degree in recreation administration and a minor in business. He was on the equipment staff as a student when Nick Nurse was on the basketball team. The brothers even roomed together. They were inseparable, Nick Nurse said.

Mr. Nurse took a job in retail before returning in 1993 as the school’s equipment manager, overseeing everything a student athlete needed to play. He washed the uniforms, ordered helmets, and purchased sneakers. Mr. Nurse did the work that rarely gets attention and he never sought recognition.

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“He was our teammate,” said Farley, Northern Iowa’s football coach from 2001 to 2024. “He had everything set up for practices and gamedays. There’s so much that Steve did for us to make sure we had a chance to win. It was all behind the scenes. No one knew he was doing it. ‘Oh, here’s the equipment guy. He just hands out stuff.’ Nope. He did everything in his power to give us the best chance to win. He set it up, tore it back down, and packed it up after road games. The endless hours he put in. He was an unselfish person. You need a person like Steve.”

Mr. Nurse had an office with a window where student athletes would come every day to pick up their shoulder pads, uniforms, and cleats. They always left with something more.

“He was really into the players,” said Eldon Miller, Northern Iowa’s basketball coach from 1986 to 1998. “His deal was to help them as much as he could. There was a kind word at the right time or a little push that you could do something. It was fun to have him around. He was such an important part of our staff and so important to the kids who played there, in all sports. He was a great Panther.”

Mr. Nurse brought eucharist to the sick in his parish, volunteered at a food pantry, sang in the choir and was a member of the Knights of Columbus. Mr. Nurse recently started to make his own rosaries. The Knights had a meeting last week and posted a sign-up sheet for upcoming volunteer opportunities. Rev. James Ahenkora, the pastor of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart Catholic Church, thought how quickly Mr. Nurse would’ve signed his name.

“He was involved in so many different things with his church and his family, and his community, I don’t know where he found the time to do everything he did,” Nick said. “But it always ended up better because he was a part of it.”

“I said in my homily that if I were to describe him in one sentence, he was a good man,” said Ahenkora who was the priest at Mr. Nurse’s funeral on May 5. “He was a man who loved God, a man who loved his family, a man who loved his church, and a man who loved his neighbors. In moments like this, nothing makes sense. A young person dies and we have a lot of questions on our mind. But Jesus says ‘Don’t let your heart be troubled. Have faith in God. So that’s what can keep all of us going. Our faith in God. I stressed that.”

Mr. Nurse grew up in Carroll, Iowa, as one of nine children to Maury and Marcella Nurse. He met his wife, Lori, during college while working as a lifeguard, and they were married in 1988. The Nurses had two children, Rachel and Andrew. He was quick-witted, knew how to string a baseball glove, and lived by this motto: If you see someone without a smile, give them yours. Mr. Nurse loved the outdoors as he fished and camped.

“Steve Nurse is what it’s all about,” Miller said. “It’s someone who loves their job but isn’t ostentatious about it. He was really involved with the players and trying to make sure they were excited. It went a lot further than equipment with Steve. He was into them psychologically in a very positive way.”

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Mr. Nurse died three days before his brother’s team completed a stunning turnaround to knock off the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Mr. Nurse was a frequent presence at games, often traveling to see his brother coach when the Sixers were on the road. It was easy to wonder how proud Mr. Nurse would’ve been after Game 7.

Mr. Nurse’s viewing was during Game 1 of the Sixers-Knicks series and his brother flew to Iowa the next morning for the funeral. The Sixers dedicated a game ball to Mr. Nurse after one of their wins against Boston but the coach never publicized his brother’s death. He kept coaching.

“I’m here coaching,” Nurse told reporters after returning from the funeral. “My brother would expect me to be. He was a huge fan. He wants us to go play.”

In lieu of flowers, Mr. Nurse’s family requested donations to the Ankeny Food Bank at https://www.impactcap.org/donatenow