Orla A. Nelson

FOREST CITY - Orla A. Nelson, age 89 of Forest City, died Friday, May 27, 2011 at the Good Samaritan Care Center in Forest City.

Funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at Winnebago Lutheran Church in rural Lake Mills with Pastor Bill Peters officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 PM on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at Petersen Lund Funeral Home 505 N Clark Street in Forest City and continue an hour prior to service at the church.
Orla A. Nelson, the daughter of Albert B. and Amanda (Roslien) Holstad, was born February 15, 1922 on a farm in Bristol Township, Worth County. She was baptized and confirmed at Elk Creek Church, rural Kensett. She attended rural schools and graduated from Joice High School in 1942. Orla was chosen by the school students to represent the school and community as their queen at the North Iowa Band Festival in Mason City on June 16, 1942.
After graduation Orla worked at the Joice Post Office one year followed by employment with the U.S. Office of Price Administration in Mason City, where she worked until the end of rationing. She then worked one year for the Fisher Typewriter Company.
On September 3, 1948 Orla was united in marriage to Gordon P. Nelson at Elk Creek Church. They made their first home in Denver, CO where Gordon attended the University and Orla worked for Jeppeson and Co., a company that published a flight operations manual for airline pilots.
Following a year at graduate school at University of Minnesota for Gordon when Orla worked for an automobile dealer, Gordon was recalled to active duty in the Air Force and stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. Their children, Steven and Gregory were born during the years they lived in Ohio.
Subsequent tours of duty took them to Los Angeles and Edwards Air Force Base in California. Gordon retired from the Air Force in 1969 and the family moved to their farm near Joice, which they had previously purchased.
Orla helped raise her two children and maintain the household while the family farmed from 1973 to 1979. She enjoyed cooking, baking and sewing and helped remodel the farm house. She and her family, accompanied by her sister Berniece and husband Edward, vacationed in Western Europe during the summer of 1972 and visited some of the early family's homesteads in Norway. In 1998, she and Gordon moved to a new home they had built where she lived until she passed away. During this time she and Gordon took many trips in their motor home to visit friends and children in different parts of the county, and enjoy retirement.
Orla is survived by her husband, Gordon; sons Steven Nelson of Joice, Iowa and Greg Nelson of Golden, Colorado; four grandchildren: Derek Nelson, Daniel Nelson, Eric (Amie) Nelson and Jennifer Nelson and a great-granddaughter, Scotlyn Nelson. Also surviving is a sister, Lorette Kroneman of Mason City, Iowa; brothers Arnold Holstad of Mason City, Iowa and Harlan (Virginia) Holstad of Hampton, Iowa, brother-in-law Alvin (Karen) Albertus and sister-in-law Eldora Holstad.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters, Berniece (Edward) Rodemeyer, Alva (Fredrick) Reetz, Marcella (Donald) Picken and Loraine Albertus; a brother Sophus Holstad; daughter-in-law Rachel Nelson, brother-in-law Merle Kroneman and sisters-in-law Viola Holstad and Amy Holstad.