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Submitted: 10/28/24 • Approved: 10/28/24 • Last Updated: 10/31/24 • R276352-G276352-S3
Diann L Nelson
June 7, 1943 - March 4, 2023
Diann L. Nelson, age 79 of Sioux Falls, SD passed away peacefully on Saturday, March 4, 2023. Her Memorial Service will be 10:00 AM Tuesday, March 14, 2023 at George Boom Funeral Home & On-Site Crematory, Sioux Falls. Visitation will be on Monday, March 13, 2023 from 5:00-7:00 PM, also at the funeral home.
Diann Lorelei O’Neal was born June 7, 1943 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She was the only child of Donald and Mildred O’Neal. Diann grew up in Brandon, SD and graduated from Brandon High School in 1961.
Diann was united in marriage with Roger Dannen on October 15, 1961. They had two sons, Jeff and Brett Dannen. They were later divorced. On April 15, 1977, she married Ron Nelson in Brandon, SD (after a 5-week engagement) and that marriage lasted a lifetime. She gained 2 stepchildren, Nicki and Mike Nelson.
Diann loved the outdoors and she and Ron owned a 24-foot pontoon boat that they kept at a marina on the Missouri River in Yankton, SD. They also had a camper which they utilized while traveling in the Big Horn Mountains, Yellowstone National Park, the Black Hills, northern Minnesota and Gavin’s Point Dam at Yankton, SD.
Diann also enjoyed travelling across the US, but she didn’t care for flying. In 1978 she and Ron flew to Hawaii (for a belated honeymoon) and she said then she would never go back until they built a bridge. Needless to say, she never went back.
Diann loved auctions, garage sales and antique sales where she searched for and collected Morrell’s and Nabisco product tins and any type of nick-knack with chickens on it. She loved reading books as well as sewing and quilting, which became a passion. She excelled in quilting and became quite proficient with her hobby. She was a proud member of the Sioux Falls Quilters Guild.
Diann was at her best when she could talk to people. She would talk to anyone about anything. She worked as an insurance adjuster for multiple insurance companies in Sioux Falls for many years until complications from back surgeries forced her into early retirement.
Family get-togethers were another of Diann’s favorite things. She loved being with all her aunts, uncles, and her many cousins. She also had numerous friends dating back to her early school days that would get together monthly for lunch and conversation.
Diann’s greatest joy in life was her family and especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Many times, Diann and her mother Millie would travel to Fargo or Minneapolis to babysit her granddaughters while their parents were vacationing.
As an only child, Diann was extremely close to her parents and after her father Don’s death, Millie moved in with Ron and Diann. Millie and Diann were together constantly until Millie moved to a nursing home for her final years. Diann and Ron visited nearly every day. Ron continued visiting Diann as often as was possible when she was later admitted to the nursing home. Early in their marriage, Ron became Diann’s caregiver. Ron often said that the reason God put him on this earth was to take care of Diann.
When Diann was 65, she was diagnosed with the early stages of Dementia and in 2016 was admitted to Luther Manor Nursing Home, where she lived out her final years.
Grateful for having shared her life are her husband Ron; their children, Jeff Dannen and his wife, Carrie McLaren of Harrisburg, SD, Brett Dannen and his partner, Gina Weiker of Sioux Falls, SD, Nicki Nelson of Salt Lake City, UT and Mike Nelson, of Sioux Falls, SD; her grandchildren, Lindsey, Erica, Kirstie, Gerrod, Amanda, Gentry and Sadie; as well as three great-granddaughters, Isla, Eloise, Amelia; and great-grandson, Gerrod Jr.
Diann was preceded in death by her parents, Don and Mildred O’Neal.
Contributed on 10/28/24 by 9katz
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Record #: 276352
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