Joan Ohms

Joan Ohms, 90, of Atlantic, Iowa, passed away Thursday, April 23, 2026, at Heritage House in Atlantic. Joan Pauline was born on May 6, 1935, the only child of Paul Edward and Cornelia Lucille (Christensen) Nelson. She grew up on the family farm just south of Brayton, Iowa; the area where the farm was located was called “Nelsonville”.

Joan had a wonderful time growing up on this farm and loved her pets very much. Her mother, Cornelia was a wonderful cook and passed this legacy on to Joan.

When Joan was 17, she participated in a 4-H box lunch social. Her future husband, Glenn Walden Ohms, won the bid for her box and her heart. Soon after that, Glenn entered the military service on April 6, 1953, and served for two years. He returned to Iowa and married Joan less than a month later on May 1, 1955. They began farming on the family farm in Nelsonville. They enjoyed 63 years of marriage together. Glenn and Joan were members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Atlantic.

Glenn and Joan had three daughters, Denise, Janelle, and Brenda. They attended school at Pymosa, and then in Atlantic. The girls kept busy with 4-H activities and took a lot of projects to the Cass County Fair.

In addition to the crops, hogs, cows and chickens, Glenn did a lot of gardening. This produced an abundance of fruits and vegetables that Joan would preserve by canning and freezing and also preparing to be eaten fresh. Joan taught the girls to listen for when the finished canned goods would make a “pop” sound so she would know that they were sealed properly. She would keep track of the number of “pops” she heard to correspond with the number of jars of canned goods she had just done.

Another favorite memory is Joan’s hard work at preparing meals. Many days, Glenn would need a box lunch brought out to him when he was working out in the fields. Joan would make a good breakfast, and after breakfast was cleaned up, she would start right in making lunch. When Joan needed to do some grocery shopping, or run some errands in Atlantic, she would go in to town in the early afternoon after lunch was cleaned up.

During the years that Glenn partnered with six other hog producers to operate the Nishna Pig Corporation, Joan would work as the bookkeeper for this corporation.

The time came for Glenn and Joan to retire from farming and they adopted a new lifestyle – vacationing in an RV. They enjoyed a number of winters as snowbirds in Arizona and Texas. They also took two trips to Alaska. After Glenn and Joan had done a lot of traveling, they were content to stay home more and enjoy their days. There came a time when Joan became aware that Glenn was having memory issues. After some consultations, a doctor agreed that Glenn needed to be in a memory care unit, and he was moved into Heritage House, Memory Care. Joan wanted to be close by, so she moved into an apartment at Heritage House and was able to go see Glenn every day.

Joan enjoyed getting to be with her friends and taking part in lots of activities. She was able to live at Heritage House for 10 years.

Several weeks before Joan passed, a friend felt that Joan was interested in having a sense of peace about a relationship with Jesus Christ. Joan was asked if she would like to know for sure about this. Joan said “YES!” She was completely open to hearing about how much Jesus loves us and that His blood will cover our sins when we confess that we are sorry for them and will welcome Him into our hearts. When asked if she would like to do this, she said “YES!” So, Joan asked for forgiveness and for Jesus to save her. Joan’s family has been rejoicing over this every day.

Joan was preceded in death by her her parents, Paul and Cornelia Nelson; husband Glenn in 2018; daughter Denise; and infant grandchildren, Daniel Josiah Rohrbaugh and Anna Irene Rohrbaugh.

She is survived by daughters, Janelle (John) Rohrbaugh of Fort Collins, Colorado and Brenda (Ron) Ruenholl of Blair, Nebraska; and four grandchildren, Ryan and Rebecca Ruenholl, and David and Joshua Rohrbaugh.

Visitation with the family present will be held from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Monday, May 18, 2026, at Roland Funeral Home in Atlantic.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Atlantic with Pastor Lauri Boysen officiating.

Burial will be held in the Atlantic Cemetery. The family welcomes you to join them for lunch in the church fellowship hall following services at the cemetery.

Memorials may be made to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church or the Heritage House Good Samaritan Fund.

Roland Funeral Service is caring for Joan’s family and her arrangements. Condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com.