A Mass of Christian Burial for Nancy Meinen, age 80, of Okoboji, will be held at 10:30 AM, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milford. Visitation will begin at 5:00 PM, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, with the family present from 5:00- 7:00 PM at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milford. Interment will be at 10:00 AM, Thursday, May 8, 2025, at Calvary Cemetery in Milford.
Nancy Helen Meinen, 80, passed away on May 1st, 2025 at Accura Healthcare of Spirit Lake. Born in Sibley, Iowa, Nancy was an amazing wife, mother, grandmother, and friend who has left a very lasting impression on all who knew her.
Growing up on a farm, Nancy went to St. Joseph’s School in Ashton where she had many friends from high school that she and Tom stayed in touch with through the years. She became good friends with Donna Marczynski (Meinen), Tom’s sister, and spent time at the Meinen house because it was quite the hangout with those eight siblings. Tom took Nancy to the Senior prom, and the rest is history. They were married on July 13, 1963, at St. Mary’s Church in Ashton, and in their almost 62 years of marriage, they spent very few nights apart.
Tom and Nancy started their marriage by moving to several cities in those first years including Morehead, MN; Rapid City, SD; Omaha, NE; Bryant, TX; and Sioux Falls, SD. They finally settled in Sioux Falls and started their first business together at the Western Mall with Tom’s brother, Bill. Next, Tom and Nancy opened their own store called The Extra Touch. They built quite a business by expanding to the “new” Empire Mall that opened on 41st Street. Eventually, they would have up to five stores in the mall in Sioux Falls, one in Fairmont, MN, one in Marshall, MN, a wholesale business, and three stores at the Emporium in Arnolds Park, IA. Tom and Nancy also helped friends and two of Tom’s siblings start their own franchises, too. This was an endeavor that required great teamwork by the two of them. Traveling together to Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, Orlando and Las Vegas for markets provided a great opportunity to mix business and fun with family.
Naming their business The Extra Touch couldn’t have been more fitting because it actually describes Nancy in many ways. She always did the “extra” things for her kids and grandkids, whether it was sending cards and making cookies for every single holiday, taking them to the movies/park/library, or attending and cheering at each and every activity that they were involved in. She also continued to accessorize her daily outfits each and every day, and her hair was never out of place. Nancy’s standing hair appointments twice a week were very important to her. So much so that she kept one in the morning right before she went into the hospital last summer with several broken ribs — had to look good in the hospital!
Nancy loved her time in Sioux Falls and the amazing friends that they met through their kids attending St. Mary’s and O’Gorman High School. Tom and Nancy were very involved in helping get things organized for the O’G Booster Club and were always in the stands at the games helping to lead, “Let’s Go Knights!”. Playing cards with friends, softball tournaments, and New Year’s Day parties were highlights of their time there.
Their last chapter took them to Okoboji, IA, where they continued to work at The Extra Touch stores at the Emporium until three years ago. Okoboji offered a whole new set of memories with fabulous friends from the Harbor, boat rides, live music at the Ritz and Captains, and dancing wherever there was a dance floor.
Nancy’s immediate family that she is survived by are her husband, Tom Meinen; their three children, Julie Schultz and her husband, LaIllya (Sioux Falls, SD), Jeff Meinen and his wife, Twolia (Kihei, HI), and Michelle Katen and her husband, Mike (Sioux Falls, SD); three grandchildren, Cole Schultz, Blake Schultz, and Riley Katen and his fiancé, Katelyn Smith (all of Sioux Falls, SD).
Turner Jenness Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
