Caledonia- Kari M. Nelson, 65, formerly of Greendale, passed away on Wednesday, March 25, 2026.

She was born on April 23, 1960 to Daniel and Kathleen (nee: Acker) Casey.

Kari was a 1978 graduate of Greendale High School. On April 27, 1985, she married Dale Nelson. Together they raised three beautiful daughters on the family farm.

Kari was a very generous and kind person. She enjoyed helping others and always put others needs ahead of her own. As soon as her first grandchild was born, she took on the role of the Best Grandma. As a grandma to her eight grandchildren, she helped with everything and was there instantly when needed. All of the grandchildren felt loved when they were with her. Kari also took on the role of caretaker to her mother-in-law, Arline. She spent a lot of her time making sure Arline had everything she needed including a loving companion to spend her time with.

Quilting was a big passion for Kari. She made many wonderful friends through quilting and even became a leader for the Tucker 4-H quilting project. She made many beautiful quilts and was very proud to give them away as special gifts and to hang them up around her house.

She also developed a passion for horses when she bought her first horse, Tripolee, in 1994. This passion was passed down to all three of her children which led to meeting many new lifelong friends who came to the family farm to ride and enjoy spending time with Kari.

Kari enjoyed eating, baking and shopping as well. She always looked forward to meeting friends and family for lunch or dinner. One of her favorite places was Culver’s where she would get fish fry’s regularly and enjoyed taking the kids there to get their free scoop of ice cream. She was known for baking her delicious desserts including chocolate chip cookies, apple pie and banana cake.

Along with her husband, Dale, they raised a family that helped one another and stayed close to the family farm. They all worked together for many years running the family’s hay and cattle business. Kari was always there to help with driving tractor, stacking hay in the barn, always making sure that everyone had a wonderful meal at the end of the day, and later on helped with watching grandkids so the kids could still help out. She was a loving and patient wife who always stuck by her husband. She adjusted to the farm life and was very proud to tell everyone about what they had going on throughout the years.

Kari will be deeply missed by so many.

She is survived by her husband of 40 years Dale Nelson; her three daughters Erika (Jake) Pfeffer, Andrea (Ken) Schmidt, and Lea (Chris) Knapp; her grandchildren Brynley, Casey, Ivy, Nate, Callie, Finn, Evelyn and Adley; her siblings Kit (Dave) Casey, Kris (Lynn) Casey, Kelley (Bill) O’Brien, Katye (Tom) Sanicki and Kaye (Brad) Casey. She is further survived by her mother-in-law Arline Nelson; her sister-in-law Luanne Nelson and many loving nieces and nephews.

Kari is preceded in death by her father Daniel Casey; her father-in-law Robert Nelson and her brother-in-law David Nelson.

A celebration of life honoring Kari’s life will be held Saturday, August 8, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. at Pfeffer Farm & Garden in Caledonia.