Donna Jean Nelson

Donna Jean (Messner) Nelson, 93, passed away on May 26, 2026, at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colorado. She was born on September 29, 1932, in Centerville, Iowa, to Walter and Edna (McDanel) Messner. On April 1, 1953, she married Robert E. Nelson in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Donna graduated from Fort Dodge High School and attended Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, for two years before marrying Robert.

Throughout her career, Donna held various secretarial and administrative positions. She retired after serving five years as Office Manager for Hospice of Boulder County in Boulder, Colorado.

Donna lived in Longmont, Colorado, from 1960 to 1991 and was a member of First Congregational Church of Christ. Following retirement, she and her husband traveled throughout the United States in their trailer before settling in Greeley in 1996.

She is survived by two sons, Robert Nelson Jr. and his wife, Gloria, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Brian Nelson and his wife, Rebecca, of Greeley, Colorado; seven grandchildren; and many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Donna was preceded in death by her husband, Robert; her parents; her sister, Mary Lou; two sons, Bruce Nelson and William Nelson; and her granddaughter, Shannon Flenniken.