Judith A. Nehring

Judith Arlene Thomsen Nehring, 84, died Wednesday, March 26, 2025, at Mayflower Community Home in Grinnell.

Friday, May 30, 2025Grinnell United Church of Christ902 Broad Street, Grinnell, IA 50112

10:30 am Memorial Service (Sanctuary)11:30 am Lunch (Fellowship Hall) 1:00 pm Departure for Albert City

Albert CityOur Savior’s Lutheran Church (ELCA)401 Spruce Street, Albert City, IA 50510

4:00 pm Committal Service (Sanctuary)

4:30 pm Departure for Fairfield Cemetery4:45 pm Internment Service (Fairfield Cemetery)5:00 pm Supper (Our Savior’s Fellowship Hall)

Judith Arlene Thomsen Nehring was born at Evangelical Deaconess Hospital in Marshalltown, Iowa on December 14, 1940. She was the second of three children born to Alfred and Mary Joy Chesick Thomsen of rural Toledo, Iowa. 

Judy was baptized in the Marshalltown hospital on May 22, 1941, and received her early Christian education through Peace Evangelical Church in Gladbrook where she was confirmed on Palm Sunday 1954.

Judy attended country school in Grant Township (Grant #2) until she transferred to the Gladbrook Community School at the start of third grade. Judy matriculated at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake and Central College in Pella, where she completed course work for a provisional elementary education certificate. She went on to teach second grade in the Reinbeck Community Schools from 1960 to 1962. 

Judith A. Thomsen and Lance A. Nehring were united in marriage at Peace Evangelical & Reformed Church in Gladbrook, Iowa, on October 6, 1962, after Judy returned from her summer travels to NYC, Washington, DC, and various sites in Northern Europe. Following their wedding, the couple made their home on the Nehring family farm and Lance worked the Nehring and Russell family farms near Albert City, Iowa. They welcomed twin daughters, Arlene and Marlene, in August 1963. 

Following Lance’s death in 1975, Judy and the girls moved to Reinbeck, Iowa, where they joined Union Congregational United Church of Christ, and where Judy enjoyed 46 years of membership.   

In the fall of 1981, when her twins headed off to college, Judy enrolled in the computer science program at the Business Institute of Technology in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She graduated 18 months later and was the valedictorian of her class.

In addition to her roles as a spouse, mother, and teacher, Judy served as an assistant preschool teacher and home health care worker in the Reinbeck area, and as a telecommunication agent for GMAC Finance in Waterloo, Iowa.

Judy most enjoyed spending time with her family. She proudly supported her daughters’ callings. For the past 40 years, Arlene has served as a parish pastor and a member of the UCC national staff, and Marlene has served as a career educator, and has been engaged in her family’s ranch operation. 

Judy loved photography, watching basketball, eating sweets, serving as the family genealogist, and driving through all of the cemeteries where her ancestors were buried. Over a period of 40 years, Judy researched and documented her family’s lineage back seven generations. 

In November 2018, Judy moved from Reinbeck to the Mayflower Community in Grinnell, Iowa, where she migrated through all three levels of the community’s care. Judy died on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in the care of Hospice Unity Point and the Mayflower Health Center with Pastor Arlene at her bedside. 

Members of the Health Center Community gathered for a prayer circle on the day of Judy’s death. Her memorial service to which all are invited will be held at the Grinnell United Church of Christ on May 30, 2025, beginning at 10:30 am. A luncheon will be provided in the Fellowship Hall immediately following the service. The caravan to Albert City will depart at 1 pm.

The Committal Service will begin at 4 pm in the Sanctuary at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Albert City. The Interment Service will follow at the Fairfield Township Cemetery. Family and friends are invited to return to the Fellowship Hall at Our Savior’s for supper.

Judith was preceded in death by her parents Alfred and Mary Thomsen; husband, Lance A. Nehring, his parents, August and Doris Lindgren Nehring Russell, and his brother and nephew, Lynn and Roger Jay Nehring. 

She is survived by her twin daughters and their spouses, children, and great-grandchildren, including the Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring (Stephanie S. Spencer) of Castro Valley, CA, and Marlene M. Schwerin (Dennis) of Gentry Arkansas, granddaughters Susan Niehus (Nate) of Jay, Oklahoma, Christine Smith (Kaleb) of Gentry, Arkansas, and great grandchildren–Naaman and Natalie Niehus, and Paden and Paxton Smith. Judy is also survived by her brothers, LeRoy (Margaret) of rural Toledo, Iowa, and Bruce (Amy) of Urbandale, Iowa, and their children and grandchildren; and sister in-law Janice Nehring (Lynn), of Albert City, Iowa, along with several nieces and nephews, and a host of other relatives and friends.

Memorials may be directed to any of the following charities: Mayflower Homes Foundation (Human Needs Endowment Fund), 616 Broad Street, Grinnell, IA 50112; Union Congregational UCC (Greatest Need Fund), 225 N Broad Street, Reinbeck IA 50669; or the Grinnell UCC (Outreach Fund), 902 Broad Street, Grinnell, IA 50112.