Ordean Leroy Nelson was born June 13, 1938 on the family farm in Chester township near Oklee, MN son of Tommy and Edna (Thorpe) Nelson. Ordean passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 6, 2025 at Essentia Health in Fosston, MN.
Funeral service for Ordean will be held at 11:00 AM on Thursday, March 13, 2025 at Zion Lutheran Church in Oklee, MN with Eric Mickelson officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church on Thursday. Burial will be held at Zion Cemetery near Oklee, MN.
Ordean was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Oklee, MN. He attended country school district #202, attended school in Trail, MN through 8th grade and Oklee High School graduating with the class of 1956.
He took over the family farm. He and his brother Wallace purchased a farm in Red Lake County in 1961. He worked construction jobs in North Dakota and Minnesota, he also worked at American Crystal in Crookston until his retirement. He continued to raise cattle and the last few years would spend the summer on the farm and winters in Oklee.
Dean looked forward to deer hunting and preparing for the family hunters at his farm by clearing and setting up his double garage for “Deer Camp”. Additional family and friends would stop by to visit. Ordean enjoyed watching and reading westerns. He also enjoyed having coffee with the guys at the Oklee Café. Ordean had a longtime companion, Myrtle.
Ordean is survived by his siblings; Norman (Ione) Nelson of Oklee, MN, Verona Gardiner of Grand Forks, ND, Sidney Nelson of Fargo, ND, Russell (Marilyn) Nelson of Climax, MN, Judy Lundeen of Red Lake Falls, MN; several nieces and nephews; Myrtle’s grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren who called him grandpa.
Ordean is preceded in death by his parents Tommy and Edna Nelson, Lorraine (Bennie) Groven, Lila (Don) trfnews.i234.me, Vernon (Jeanette) Nelson, Wallace (Doris) Nelson, Shirley (Floyd) Dahle, Jerry Nelson, sister-in-law Eileen Nelson, brothers-in-law George Gardiner and David Lundeen; companion Myrtle Woods.
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