Sharon J. Nelson (1942-2009)

NELSON, VAN SLOTEN, DEBRUIN, HIRSCHAUER, DAVIS, HERONEMUS, MARSHALL, BUDDEN, ROOZING, SLYKHUIS

Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 12/5/2009 at 10:27:24

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Friday, December 4, 2009.

Sharon J. Nelson, 67, of Story City, and formerly of the Rowley area, passed away Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009, at Israel Family Hospice House in Ames, following a long and courageous battle with cancer. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 7, at First United Methodist Church in Independence, with burial in Rowley Cemetery in Rowley.

Friends may call from 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, at Reiff Funeral Home in Independence, and from 9 a.m. until services Monday at the church. A prayer service will be at 7 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.

Sharon was born June 4, 1942, in Rock Valley, the daughter of John and Agnes (DeBruin) Van Sloten. She was a 1960 graduate of the Rock Valley High School and then attended Kankakee Community College. On Dec. 30, 1958, she married Roger L. Nelson in Belmond. He managed West Side Implement and they farmed near Rowley, where she was an active member of Rowley United Methodist Church. In 1986, the couple moved to Bourbonnais, Ill., and later to Paxton, Ill., where he was in the farm equipment business until moving to Story City in 1995 to be close to their young grandchildren. While in Story City, she was active in Grace Methodist Church and the Story City Carousel Restoration Committee. She also became an avid Iowa State Cyclone fan. In 2001, the couple moved to Jamestown, N.D., managing a John Deere dealership for six years and returning to Story City to semi-retire.

Her love of the farm would often bring her back to the Nelson homestead near Rowley to help her son, Scott, plant in the spring and harvest in the fall. She enjoyed entertaining in her home, playing cards and traveling with her husband, Roger. Her grandchildren were the apple of her eye and she loved attending as many of their activities as possible.

Sharon’s memory is honored by her husband of 50 years, Roger L. Nelson, of Story City; three children, Sandra (Tom) Hirschauer and Brett (Vicki) Nelson, all of West Des Moines, and Scott Nelson, of Rowley; six grandchildren, Alec, Chase and Weston Hirschauer, and Taylor and Kaitlyn Nelson, all of West Des Moines; and Paige Davis, of Independence; her mother, Agnes Heronemus, of Sheldon; four sisters, Shirley Marshall, of Sioux City, Maretta Budden, of Grandville, Malores Roozing, of Littleton, Colo., and Nora Slykhuis, of Custer, S.D.; and one brother, Greg Van Sloten, of Robbins.

She was preceded in death by her father, John Henry Van Sloten Jr.

Memorials may be directed to the Nelson family to benefit a local hospice or cancer organization.

For more information or to leave an online condolence, visit www.reifffuneralhome.com under obituaries.

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