Ray Allen Nasers

Sibley, IA 

     Ray Nasers age 89 of Sibley, Iowa died Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at Sibley Specialty Care in Sibley, IA.

     Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 2^nd at the St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Sibley, IA, with Father Siby Punnoose as celebrant.

     Burial will follow at the St. Andrew’s Catholic Cemetery in Sibley, with military honors by George E. Mudge American Legion Post No. 324, William F. Allard VFW Post No. 7373 and Sibley Honor Guard.

     Visitation will be Sunday, March 1^st from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Jurrens Funeral Home of Sibley. There will be a Rosary service at 4:00 p.m., with Vigil service to follow the Rosary.

     In lieu of flowers, the family ask that donations be made to St. Andrews Catholic Church and The American Kidney Fund. Ray was living in kidney failure for the past 10 years. His children helped with this battle, especially Linda and Mike, they were wonderful in his care with many trips to Sioux Falls for doctor visits.

     Ray Allen Nasers was born July 8, 1930 at home in rural Osceola County near Sibley, Iowa, the son of Roy and Genevieve (Fox) Nasers. He attended #8 county rural elementary school and Sibley high school, graduating in 1950. In high school he was in track and football, playing football with his brothers Bob and Glenn. He said they would practice football at home after school. He worked on the farm with his parents and brothers and always knew he wanted to be a farmer.      

     He enlisted in the US Navy in 1951 and was in service for 4 years; basic training was in Chicago at the Great Lakes training center and his ship APA 160 USS DUEL left from Virginia. He was a Second-Class Seaman traveling by sea to England, Scotland, France, Africa, Greenland (building an airbase), Cuba, and Puerto Rico (training with the US Marines). He also had several trainings with the Marine Air Wings through Japan and the Panama Canal. He very much enjoyed talking to everyone about his Navy days.

     On February 14, 1957, Ray married Barbara (Swalve) Nasers in Sanborn, Iowa at the Catholic Church Parsonage. His brother, Bob, and Barbara’s twin sister Beverly, had a double wedding. As a couple they spent a lot of time going to movies, fishing and dancing at the Roof Garden in Arnolds Park. Ray said Barbara was his first love, and this year they celebrated 63 years of marriage. Ray and Barbara raised their 5 children north of Sibley, which became their family farm where Barbara still lives today. He farmed his entire life with his brothers and children until he retired at age 80. He raised cattle and hogs, milked cows, and rotated crops.

     Ray and Barbara enjoyed traveling together to Hawaii multiple times (he said this was his favorite place), Switzerland, Portugal, and Barbados. He also traveled to Brazil with his brother Roy. He was a wonderful father taking his family to many county fairs, on picnics and to Arnolds Park over the summer when they were children. As a young family they would take a RV across the US many summers; this was a family highlight. In later years he enjoyed traveling with his children to MN North Shore, Canada, Branson, Door County and Colorado. His 80^th birthday was celebrated at Cutty’s with family; this was his favorite place to go in the summer. A recent birthday celebration was held at Hawkeye Point, the highest point in Iowa just west of his farm. He was very proud of his farm by Hawkeye and always talked about this with everyone he met. He had a strong interest in everything from current events, politics, business and getting to know everyone he met. He made an impact on everyone and was a wonderful role model to his children and grandchildren. He loved watching his grandsons play football. Whenever he saw his grandkids his eyes lit up.

     Ray was a member of St. Andrew Catholic Church, attending church here his entire life. He would always say “life is a short pilgrimage to our eternal life”. He was also a member of Knights of Columbus, American Legion and VFW.

     Ray died peacefully on February 26, 2020 at Sibley Specialty Care. His family is thankful for all the health teams and caregivers who helped him over the years, especially Dr. Gutnik, Dr. Santos and Dr. Kosters.

     Those left to cherish Ray in memories are his wife Barbara of Sibley, his five children Allen (Heide) Nasers of Slayton, Michael Nasers of Sibley, Steven Nasers of Sibley, Linda (Tim) Coleman of Sibley and Kristi (John) Marquardt of Excelsior, MN; 15 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren; his sister in-law Beverly Nasers of Sibley; many nieces and nephews and extended family.

     He was proceeded in death by his parents, Roy and Genevieve; three brothers Roy, Robert and Glen; sister in-laws Dorothy and Teresa; niece Cindy Iedema and nephew Edward Nasers.