Joyce Marie Nielsen

Joyce Marie (Krummel) Nielsen was born on April 10, 1931 at Jenny Edmundsen Hospital; the oldest of three daughters to William and Dorothy (Petersen) Krummel. Her father farmed west of Avoca and then when Joyce was four the family moved to town. Her dad was a blacksmith and later a painter working for Mathias Petersen, Joyce’s grandfather, in his painting and church restoration business. He later had his own painting business. Her mother worked as a telephone operator when Joyce was in high school.

She attended country school and Avoca Public School graduating with the class of 1949. She was active in Campfire Girls, Rainbow Girls, Luther League, church choir, and chorus, marching band, and drama club in school. She spent a lot of time with her Grandma and Grandpa Petersen while she was growing up. Her fondest memories of them were sitting on her grandma’s lap reading books and playing with buttons and later driving her grandpa’s Studebaker. After high school she worked for 3 years in Omaha for World Insurance as an office worker. Part of her job was putting punch cards in a big computer. She enjoyed working there and often spent her lunch hour window shopping in the downtown area. On November 28, 1953, she married Hans Nielsen at Trinity Lutheran Church in Avoca. She met him at a Luther League event while in high school. She said he was the nicest boy she ever met even though he pushed her into the Harlan swimming pool as a ploy to get her attention. She was furious with him because she had just got her hair done and was going out on a date with another boy that evening. She strung him along for a while until he drove his new 49 Chevy down to her house to see her one day. The rest is history. They were married for over 60 years.

After her marriage, Joyce moved to a farm northwest of Kirkman where Hans farmed and raised livestock. They had three children, Deena Marie (1954), Rebecca Jo (1956) and Hans Jay (1959). Joyce loved the farm and was a great cook and homemaker often making 3 meals a day plus taking morning and afternoon lunch out to the fields. She later confessed that she hated cooking. When she wasn’t cooking and taking care of kids she was active in many numerous organizations such as Harlan Immanuel Lutheran church circle, Sunday School teacher, Cub Scout leader, 4-H leader, extension council member, Cow Belles, Purple Hats, and her favorite the LNO (Ladies Night Out) a neighborhood club composed of her friends from the Kirkman area in which she was a charter member. The LNO ladies met each month for over 50 years doing various activities which a lot of times included their husbands and kids. Joyce was an excellent seamstress and several of the LNO ladies made memory quilts representing all their fun times. She loved clothes, shopping, reading, crocheting, painting, and expressing her political side.

In 1985 Joyce and Hans moved from their farm to an acreage across from the Shelby Co. Golf Course and operated Nielsen RV Park until 2014. Many great memories were made around the swimming pool with family and friends. They loved meeting new people from all over who came to camp. After Hans died Joyce moved to Westridge Apartments in Harlan where she lived until March of 2025. She then became a resident of Salem Lutheran Home in Elk Horn, Iowa. Joyce died on May 13, 2025 in Elk Horn, IA. She was multi-talented, spunky, witty, fun, and very particular but most of all a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother. She was very proud of her family and loved them very much. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband, daughter Deena, and granddaughter Nicole (Nielsen) Misselhorn. Survivors include her children, Becky (Gary) Feser of Irwin, IA, Jay (Susan) Nielsen of Defiance, IA, grandchildren, Matt Nielsen of Kirkman, Carly Nielsen of Defiance, IA, great-grandsons Wyatt and Connor Nielsen of Kirkman, sisters, Janice (Jim) White of Griswold, Pamela (John) Lees of Montrose, CO and one brother-in-law, Carl Nielsen of Kirkman.