Obituary for Roy Carl Nilsen
(Former Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, Morris, MN.)
July 22, 1938 – January 13, 2025.
Roy Nilsen’s full obituary can be found at https://www.hamiltonsfuneralhome.com/obituaries.
One of the gifts of the Lutheran heritage that Roy Nilsen spoke of in his farewell words to Zion Lutheran Church in 1998 is the belief that the finite bears the infinite.
On Monday, January 13 in his home, resting in his chair, Roy Carl Nilsen’s finite, infinite-bearing life, came to an end.
Roy was born on July 22, 1938 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Carl George Nilsen and Irene Hedwig (Granum) Nilsen.
In 1956 he graduated from South Division High School and attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he graduated in 1960.
Roy and Mary Ylvisaker were married on April 2, 1960, the spring of their senior year at Concordia. Roy studied at Luther Seminary from 1960-1964 and became an ordained pastor in the American Lutheran Church in 1964.
He steadfastly and faithfully served the congregation of Hope Lutheran in Sunburg, Minnesota, from 1964-1970; Faith Lutheran in Morris, Minnesota, from 1970-1980; Zion Lutheran in Iowa City, Iowa, from 1980-1998; St. John’s Lutheran in Des Moines, Iowa, from 1998-2004; and post-retirement at St. Mark Lutheran in West Des Moines.
After more than 40 years of vibrant ministry, Roy retired to, in his words, “devote more time and energy to my love affair with art,” as a docent at the Des Moines Art Center.
Roy’s deepest joys and delights were in his family, witnessing the creativity, passion, evolution, and uniqueness of the infinite within the finite of his five adult children and their spouses, his eleven grandchildren and their spouses, his two brand new great-grandchildren, and the love of his life, Mary.
Roy is survived by his wife, Mary Ylvisaker Nilsen; five children: Per Nilsen (Mary), Kai Nilsen (Patty), Linnea Nilsen Capshaw (Daniel), Solveig Nilsen-Goodin (Peter), Erika Nilsen (David Devine); eleven grandchildren: Bjorn, Kristian, Anders, Annika, Leif, Siri, Soren, Stig, Hanson, Signe, and Mari; two great-grandchildren: Selah and Saint; his sister, Carol Nilsen; many nieces and nephews; and a vast extended family in Norway.
Roy was preceded in death by his father and mother.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota; St. John’s Lutheran Church in Des Moines, Iowa; or DMARC Food Pantry Network in Des Moines, Iowa.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Hamilton’s Funeral Home, Des Moines.
We will gather to remember and celebrate Roy’s life and faith on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Des Moines.
All are welcome to gather with family and friends beginning at 10 a.m., the funeral service will begin at 11 a.m., followed by a reception in Wurtz Hall at St. John’s.
