Ronald ‘Butch’ N. Hillesheim

Ronald “Butch” N. Hillesheim age 78 of Nashua, IA died Friday, July 3, 2020 at Mayo Clinic Hospital – St. Mary’s Campus in Rochester, MN.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Charles City with Rev. Gary Mayer celebrating the Mass. Interment will follow at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Nashua with Max Babcock, Carson Babcocks, Seth Harrington, Shane Hillesheim, Kevin Ackerson, Matthew Ackerson, Michael Burkle, Andrew Burkle and Daniel Burkle serving as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Branden Siemons, Austin Siemons, Dillon Clipperton, Grant Wedeking and Tyler Wedeking.

Friends may greet the family from 4-7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7, 2020 at Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory — Olson Chapel in Nashua. Visitation continues an hour prior to the Mass on Wednesday at the church.

Ronald “Butch” Nicholas Hillesheim was born June 23, 1942, to Nicholas and Veronica (Marz) Hillesheim in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, where he was the second oldest of five children.

He grew up on a farm near Sleepy Eye and helped his parents with a variety of chores. Butch attended Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Catholic School and was a member of its Class of 1960.

After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and worked as a mechanic. He was stationed at Hahn Air Force Base in Germany where he met and married Anna Drosse where their first daughter Patty was born.

When Butch was honorably discharged, the family moved to his hometown, where he worked at a local coop and helped on the farm. Four more children — Sandy, Sonya, Terry and Becky — were added to the family. They remember their father as a hard worker and a jack-of-all-trades.

Butch took a job with Moorman’s Feed and he was transferred to Goldfield, then back to Sleepy Eye and then finally to the company’s Plainfield plant and the family settled in Nashua.

He married Nancy Wedeking on March 26, 1987, and his family grew to include Nancy’s daughters — Chris, Shawna, Melanie and Janel.

In 1988, he took a job as an electrician for Demro Electric in Nashua, where he worked until he retired in 2004. But Butch wasn’t the retiring guy, so he worked at the coop, helped area farmers and delivered Zip’s Trucking wreckers all over the country.

Butch and Nancy loved to take weekend trips, and they always found time to be incredibly supportive of their 19 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Butch was the kind of guy whose dictionary didn’t contain the word stranger. He could talk to just about anyone about anything. He also enjoyed gardening, his Oliver tractors and golfing, both the game on the course and socializing in the clubhouse.

He believed in serving his community and his church. He was a member of St. Michael’s Church in Nashua and served as finance chairman of the Parish Council and was a director of the St. Michael’s Cemetery Board. He volunteered for 41 years at the St. Michael’s Food Stand at the Big Four Fair and was known for the “Butch’s Special.” Butch served on the Nashua Town and Country Club Board of Directors, and he was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Ralph W. Nicholson VFW Post 6792 in Nashua.

He spent his life working hard and making friends, and he will be greatly missed by his wife, his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren and the many friends he made in a life well lived.

Butch is survived by his wife Nancy Hillesheim of Nashua, IA; one son, Terry (Shawna) Hillesheim of Nashua, IA; four daughters, Patty (Todd) Burkle of Monona, IA, Sandy (Bill) Harrington of Nashua, IA, Sonya (Dale) Matthews of Waverly, IA, Becky (Brad) Babcock of New Hampton, IA; four step-daughters, Chris (Scott) Siemons of Nashua, IA, Shawna (Terry) Hillesheim of Nashua, IA, Melanie (Kevin) Clipperton of Greene, IA, Janel (Jason) Wedeking of Parkersburg, IA; 19 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Sharon Malechka of Lonsdale, MN, Sue (Tom) Schewe of Sleepy Eye, MN; one brother, Gary (Rosie) Hillesheim of Sleepy Eye, MN; many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Dean Hillesheim; great-nephew Caleb Fisher; brother-in-law Lester Malechka.