Dewey Marshall Nielsen
July 13, 1946 – Dec. 19th, 2020
Dewey Marshall Niel-
sen age 74 of Oxford, Iowa
passed away peacefully
on December 19th, 2020
from a combination of
COVID and agent orange
(exposed during his time
in military service) at
UIHC in Iowa City, Iowa.
Dewey was born on July
13, 1946 to Wanda
(Marshall) and Milton
Nielsen in Rugby, ND. He
graduated from Rugby
High School and the
University of North Dako-
ta. He spent 4 years in the
USAF and was stationed
in Vietnam, Thailand and
Pakistan. Dewey married
the love of his life Darlene
(Ill) on June 10, 1972 in
St. Thomas, ND.
Dewey worked with his
father and brother in the
family business, Rugby
Creamery, until it was
sold in 1978. After which
he spent 8 years working
for the Boy Scouts of
America in Charles City,
Iowa, Sedalia, Missouri
and Seward, Nebraska. In
1986, Dewey found his
true calling with the pur-
chase of Sleepy Hollow
Campground. He enjoyed
meeting and visiting with
all the campers and those
from the community who
would walk through his
doors. He always had a
project going and worked
tirelessly to create
memories for those who
visited.
Dewey was a collector,
Match Box cars,
Hotwheels, rocks, bould-
ers, Coca Cola, etc. He
loved bird watching,
flowers, trees and any-
thing to do with landscap-
ing. He was an Eagle
Scout and helped many
young boys achieve their
Eagle Scout awards.
Dewey is survived by
his wife of 48 years, Dar-
lene; his son, Anthony
(Erin) Nielsen of Chicago,
IL; his daughter, Kayla
(Bryan) Nehring of
Marion, IA; and three
wonderful grandchildren,
Kaiden Nielsen, Hadley
Nielsen and Kharl Nehr-
ing; his twin brother, Al
(Bev) Nielsen, Horace,
ND; sister, Nancy (Lau-
rance) Heger, Underwood,
ND; brothers-in-law, Jim
Meehan of Chazy, NY and
Carlton (Judy) Ill of Ca-
valier, ND; sister-in-law,
Marian Reinert of Milling-
ton, MI and extended fam-
ily and friends. He was
preceded in death by his
daughter, Alyssa; parents,
sister, Ann Meehan;
sisters-in-law, Mary Ann
Gangelhoff and Doris
Henry Rustan; and
brother-in-law, Charles Ill.
Services celebrating
Dewey’s life will be held
at 11am Saturday, June
12. 2021 at Christ The
King Lutheran Church in
Iowa City, with a time of
food and fellowship to fol-
low at the Sleepy Hollow
Campground near Oxford.
(please register at the of-
fice upon arrival) Grave-
side services with mili-
tary honors will be held
at 1pm Monday June
14th. at the Persilla Watts
Cemetery in Rugby, ND.
To share a thought,
memory or condolence
with his family please
visit the funeral home
website @
www.gayandciha.com.
and Niewoehner Funeral
Home – Rugby at
www.niewoehnerfh.com