Carl Joseph (Vigil, Jr.) Nelson

Memorial services are at 2 p.m., on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, at Wintz & Ray Funeral Home in Yankton, South Dakota, with Reverend Katie Ricke officiating. Inurnment will be at the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Yankton with military honors provided by the Ernest-Bowyer VFW Post No. 791. The memorial service will be live streamed on Carl’s obituary page at http://www.wintzrayfuneralhome.com and on our YouTube channel, Wintz Funeral Home. 

Carl Nelson, age 41, of Nixa, Missouri, and formerly of Yankton, South Dakota, was called by his Heavenly Father to be a soldier in God’s Army in heaven on Sunday, December 27, 2020.

Carl was born Feb. 10, 1979, in Lemoore, California. Carl moved to Yankton, South Dakota, and graduated from Yankton High School in 1998. He then attended Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska, to be an electrician. 

In 2001, Carl married Tina Wolhoy.

In 2002, Carl enlisted in the United States Army. He served in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, and then in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2006 as an engineer doing electrical work. Carl became a Criminal Investigations (CID) Agent for the US Army in 2007. He started as an E-4 and worked his way up until he was commissioned as a warrant officer. In 2015, Carl was discharged from the Army. 

After his divorce in 2015, he moved to Nixa and continued his work as an electrician. In 2017, Carl started his own electrical business, All-American Electric, Nixa. Carl married the love of his life, Rachel Reaves, on Sept. 19, 2019, at 9:19 am in Key West, Florida. 

Carl enjoyed many activities, traveling, brewing his own beer, listening to rock music, and playing video games with his children. He was a referee for the Wild Wood Roller Derby Team of Waynesville, Missouri, and he was short wave radio operator KEOKGU. He had an infectious funny personality and could always make people laugh. Carl left this world too soon and will be forever missed.

Carl is survived by his wife, Rachel of Nixa; three children: Tiffany, Blane and Emelia of Yankton, South Dakota; granddaughter, Zemira; stepdaughters Savannah and Masy Reaves of Nixa, Missouri; mother, Linda (Dick) Fox of Yankton; father, Carl Vigil of Limon, Colorado; and other family members. Carl was preceded in death by his grandparents.

To send an online message to the family, visit http://www.wintzrayfuneralhome.com.