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Submitted: 5/4/11 • Approved: 8/10/22 • Last Updated: 8/25/22 • R112725-G112725-S3
Cheryl Joy Nelson Aalberg
Birth 22 Jan 1961
Death 15 Aug 1997 (aged 36)
Cheryl Aalberg dies at 36; cheered others, loved life
Colton – Even as her heath failed, Cheryl Aalberg never lost her passion for life or her desire to help others.
“She was always more concerned about what was going on around her than she was about herself,” said her husband, Greg. “Even in the hospital she would always sit down and talk to the other patients. She’d try to give them reassurance and faith in the system.”
Aalberg, 36 died Friday, Aug. 15, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Minn., after complications from a heart transplant.
“She was doing just excellent,” Greg Aalberg said. “The doctors had the most positive outlook for her. They thought she was well on her way to a full recovery.”
Greg Aalberg talked to his wife by phone Friday morning. She assured him she felt fine. But doctors called late Friday with an urgent message that complications had set in and that he should rerun to the hospital.
Greg Aalberg praised doctor’s efforts to save his wife.
“The transplant team at the Mayo Clinic is the most dedicated, caring and compassionate group of people you could know,” he said. “They will do anything and everything. Whatever it takes.”
Cheryl Nelson was born Jan. 22, 1961. She grew up in Colton and graduated from Tri-Valley High School in 1979. She attended South Dakota State University in Brookings and graduated with a biology degree.
She married Greg Aalberg on Sept. 15, 1984, in St. Joseph the Workman Catholic Church, rural Colton, where she was a member.
Besides her husband, survivors include a daughter, Analissa Lee; her mother and stepfather, Jeanelle and David Stene of Colton; and a brother, Greg Nelson of Vermillion.
Funeral Mass will begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday at St. Joseph the Workman Catholic Church, with burial in Bethania Cemetery, rural Colton.
Visitation will be from 1 to 6 p.m. today at Minnehahe Funeral Home, Colton. A wake is scheduled for 7:30 tonight at the church.
Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, Minnehaha Co., SD
Aug 18, 1997
Contributed on 5/4/11
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Record #: 112725