09/11/2026
#15🪽
USA Softball South Dakota 'Legend of the Game' Friday
Raegan Marie Nelson was born to parents Tucker and Jamie (Nessan) Nelson in Jackson, Wyoming during the early morning of November 6, 2009.
Raegan was an amazing young woman. She was beautiful inside and out. She was a wonderful daughter, a loving big sister, a dedicated and loyal teammate, and a talented artist and musician. She attended school at Sioux Valley School in Volga, SD. Raegan was a proud member of FCCLA and had earned a trip to their national convention in Seattle last June. She had an amazing time and placed 7th in the nation in a mock job interview star event. Raegan also participated in 4H as a member of the Kingsbury Country Spring Laker club.
Unless a college softball team came calling, she probably would have ended up at South Dakota State and playing in the Dakota Pride Marching Band. She loved the Jackrabbits and wanted a career in music. Teaching music and coaching would have probably been in her future.She participated in area honor bands and played her flute for special music in her last Sunday School Christmas program.
On the softball field is where Raegan was really starting to shine. She could and was happy to play anywhere the coaches asked her. If you asked her where she wanted to play, she would say I can play anywhere they need me. I am quick enough and have a good enough arm to play shortstop and third base, but we have other girls that are good there, so I will use my speed in the outfield. She even dabbled in pitching and made it the center of her 7th grade science fair project. She wanted to see how different grips affected the speed of her pitching. She was improving all the time and beginning to feel like there wasn’t a pitch she couldn’t hit, a play she couldn’t make, or a base she couldn’t steal. Raegan also played basketball and volleyball and ran track.
Raegan was baptized and confirmed at Badger Lutheran church. She took her confirmation very seriously. “I want to find my own path to God and learn about him on my own.”
Raegan’s life was tragically cut short after a vehicle accident on the way to school on September 27, 2024. Raegan is survived by her parents, Jamie (Nessan) and Tucker Nelson, her brother, Braddock, and sisters, Aubree and Amelia. Her grandparents, Susan (Fear) and Doug Nessan of Big Piney, Wyoming and Joanne (Carlson) and Paul Nelson of Hetland, SD. Great Grandmothers, Marie (Koisti) Nessan of Sioux Falls, SD and Betty (Budd) Fear of Big Piney, WY. Aunts and Uncles: Jennifer (Nessan) and Phil Zimmerman of Laramie, WY and their children, Kasyn, Chloe, and Caleb. Janelle (Nessan) and Cody Phillips of Eaton, CO. and their children, Connor, Millie, and Madden. Jan (Nelson) and Gregg Linneman of Hartford, SD and their children, Grant and his wife Alyssa, Laura, Jack.
Raegan Marie Nelson 'Safe at Home' 10/1/2024
