Funeral services for James "Jim" Nash, 85, life long Perkins County, SD rancher and former County Commissioner, will be Monday, Feb. 12, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. at the Hettinger Lutheran Church in Hettinger, ND. Lunch will immediately follow the service before the burial at the Ellingson Zion Cemetery in Perkins Co., SD. Rev. Kathleen Dettmann will officiate.

JAMES DOUGLAS NASH was born on October 3, 1921 to Edward and Sophie (Iverson) Nash in the middle of eleven children on the Big Nasty Creek in northwestern Perkins County, SD. He attended Glendo School and completed the eighth grade.


When his dad died, Jim was 13 years old, so he stayed home raising bum lambs and helped his mom raise the family, while his older brothers and sisters went out to find jobs. With the urging from family and neighbors, he bought the home place and 800 acres when he was 19 years old. Jim added to this over the years and farmed and ranched, raising sheep and cattle until he retired in 1990.


In 1945 he was asked to take the clerks job on the Glendo School Board. In 1949 he helped to hire a school teacher by the name of Nan Oleson. Jim and Nan were later married on September 23, 1951. To this union there were six children born, four boys and two girls, Roger, Dennis, Tom, Carmen, Daryl and Carla.


Jim served on the Glendo School Board from 1945 until the school was closed in 1968. He was the clerk for Glendo Township for over forty years. Jim resigned from the township board in 1982, when he was elected as a Perkins County Commissioner. He served as a commissioner for 12 years.


When Jim and Nan retired in 1990, they hooked onto a fifth-wheel camper and visited family and friends from British Columbia, Canada to Florida. They enjoyed traveling for 15 years.


Jim took great pride in his family and loved watching his grandchildren grow up. He was a great husband, dad, brother and neighbor. Jim belonged to the Duck Creek Lutheran Church and his faith was very important to him.


Jim passed from this life at his home on February 4, 2007 following a short bout with cancer.


Those most grateful for having been a part of his life are his wife, Nan, of Prairie City; four sons and two daughters, Roger (Judy), Dennis, Tom (Nel), Carmen (Jim) Schaf, Daryl (Naomi) and Carla (Steve) Tranmer; 14 grandchildren; 3 + great grandchildren; one brother, Arlo (Phyllis) Nash; four sisters, Flora Ellingson, Thelma Drolc, Dorothy Beld and Yvonne Hendricks; one sister-in-law, Mary Nash and dozens of nieces and nephews.

Preceding Jim in death were his parents, four brothers, Ervine, Lloyd, Ernie and Claude, one sister, Clara Shong, two sisters-in-law, Patsy and Esther Nash and five brothers-in-law, Glen Shong, Elvin Ellingson, John Beld, Alvin Hendricks and Andy Drolc. A Memorial will be established by his family.