Roger L. Nelson

Roger L. Nelson

Independence

On March 19, 2025, Roger L. Nelson departed his earthly life passing on to eternal life with the Lord. Left to remember him fondly and with love are his wife, Cheryl Nelson, and their combined family of son Scott Nelson, daughter Sandy (Tom) Hirschauer, daughter-in-law Vicki Nelson, daughter Charity (Aaron) Pankonin, and daughter Vanessa (Dirk) Greven, 10 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren, siblings Audrey Elliott, David (Rita) Nelson, Mary (Bob) Banwart, and nieces and nephews. Roger was preceded in death by his wife Sharon Nelson, his son Brett Nelson, parents Mervin and Grace Nelson, his father-in-law, John Van Sloten, his mother-in-law Agnes Van Sloten-Heronemus, and stepfather Albert Heronemus.

Roger was born on June 2, 1942 the second child of Mervin and Grace Nelson, farmers in rural Rowley, Iowa and a Methodist pastor serving churches in the state of Iowa. Roger’s early life was spent working on the family farm and for farmers in the area. He graduated from Rock Valley High School, in Rock Valley, Iowa where he met his wife of 50 years, Sharon Nelson. Raising their family on the generational farm was a joy staying busy with church, sports, family vacations and a heavy emphasis on working hard and working together to complete the task at hand.

Roger enjoyed a career in the Farm Equipment Business starting with West Side Implement, a Massey Ferguson equipment dealer, Independence, Iowa, for 20 years (1965-1985). Sharon and Roger moved to Illinois where he was a Case IH dealer in Gibson City for 10 years (1985-1995). In 1995 they moved to Story City, Iowa where Roger became a John Deere dealer for Ryerson Equipment, Story City and Nevada, Iowa for the next 5 years. There were six grandchildren in Iowa by 1996 and Sharon and Roger enjoyed attending all of their many activities, deciding to retire in 2000. In 2001 Roger was hired out of retirement to manage two John Deere Implement Dealerships in Jamestown, North Dakota until 2007. In 2009 his wife Sharon passed away after a tough battle with cancer. In 2012 Roger married Cheryl Sjodin who lost her husband in 2009. They enjoyed their blended family traveling between Iowa and Minnesota for grandchildren’s activities, weddings, birthdays, holidays, and enjoyed their great-grandchildren during their trips to Iowa. Roger had a warm smile and a kindness all who knew him admired and loved. He had a way of uplifting your day with a conversation or a story or a dry joke.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at the Reiff Family Center – Funeral Home & Crematory in Independence, Iowa. Inurnment will be at Rowley Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 9:30 AM until the celebration of life service on Saturday at the funeral home.

To leave an online condolence please go to www.reifffamilycenter.com under obituaries.