Dale Nelson

Dale Curtis Nelson, age 83 of Fredericksburg, IA, died Saturday, February 5, 2022, at MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center in Mason City, IA. Funeral Services will be at 12:00 p.m. Friday, February 11, 2022, at Peace United Church of Christ in Fredericksburg with Rev. Scott Smith officiating. Pallbearers will be Curtis Nelson, Brett Cota, Jacob Denk, Mike Hoey, Zachary Hardy, Mitch Hardy, Broc Hardy, Jared Penning, and Jacob Penning. Friends may greet the family from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Friday, February 11, 2022, prior to the service at Peace United Church of Christ on Friday. Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory in Fredericksburg have been entrusted with the arrangements. Dale was born on July 7, 1938, to Curtis and Gwyneth (Jensen) Nelson in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and he grew up in the southern Minnesota city and received his education at Albert Lea schools. After high school, Dale began his career in manufacturing in Minnesota, and in 1967, he moved his family to Cedar Falls, where he began working at Dorfer Corporation and later moved on to run the machine shop at the SPS Corporation before taking a job at Simon Machine Tool. Dale had two sons, James and Paul, from his first marriage, which ended in divorce. While he was working at Dorfer, he became friends with Janice Todd, who worked at the plant as a secretary. Dale and Janice were married in 1985, and their families blended well together. They moved to Fredericksburg, where Dale and Richard Walter opened R&D Machine Tool near the intersection of Highways 63 and 18. The business thrived and Dale and Richard sold it in 1989, and the plan for Dale was to go into retirement. But anyone who knew Dale knew he wasn’t the retiring type of guy; in fact, his retirement was, to put it succinctly, short-lived as he and Jan started their own business, Nelson Machine, and Systems, in Fredericksburg. Working side-by-side with two of their sons, they ran the business for 30 years before Dale retired for a second time. In his younger days, Dale loved working on his street rods and throughout his life, he loved building engines, and he found a kindred spirit one day when he met a Prairie du Chen, Wisconsin, man named Mike Sorenson who was hauling some flathead Ford engines. The two struck up a conversation, and Dale said he had dozens of the engines in his shop. Mike couldn’t believe it so Dale took him out to the shop and a dear friendship was born that day. That was the kind of man Dale was. He loved time spent with his wife, his kids, his grandchildren, and his friends. He loved passing on his knowledge to those he knew, and while he may not have had the fancy degrees, he was a master of business. He also believed in serving his community and served on the Fredericksburg City Council as well as the Fredericksburg Development Board. At home and in his shop, he’d tackle any project — be it plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, or automotive. No project was too big or too small for him to take on. He remained active right up until the end of his life, and those that knew and loved him will miss this man who really did live an extraordinary life. Dale is survived by his wife, Janice of Fredericksburg; his children, James (Amy) Nelson of Fredericksburg, Paul Nelson of Fredericksburg, Tesha Hardy of New Hampton, Darin Virock of Ottumwa, Stephanie (Fred) Kornett of Odgen, Utah, and Jason (Pam) Penning of O’Fallon, Missouri; his 10 grandchildren, Zachary, Jessica, Hillary, Mitch, Brock, Cammie, Curtis, Paige, Jared and Jacob; his 13 great-grandchildren; his brothers, Jon Nelson and Bill Nelson, both of Albert Lea, Minnesota; and his sisters, Sharon Seidel of Albert Lea, Minnesota, and Jolene Engelby of Hayward, Minnesota. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Nancy Sargent.