Richard (Dick) C. Nehring passed away peacefully with Lynn at his side on Friday, December 20, 2024, at The Neighbors of Dunn County, Menomonie, after a six-year battle with cancer.
Dick was born February 15, 1934 to Julius and Mabel (Hockenbrock) Nehring in the Town of Cleveland, Chippewa County. He graduated from Baldwin High School in 1952 and worked in a grocery store for one year before he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving from 1953 to 1956. He worked odd jobs in a cannery, creamery and pea factory. Dick completed one year of a Machinist program at Voc Tech. He worked as a machinist from 1959 to 1999 at McDonough Manufacturing in Eau Claire.
He married Mary Lou Morissette in 1960. Together, they had three daughters, Denise, Karen, and Julie. They lived in the Eau Claire area, where they were members of St. John’s Lutheran Church. He enjoyed doing things with his family and friends. His hobbies included fishing, hunting, vegetable gardening, woodworking, and watching basketball and football games. He was an avid Green Bay Packer fan, and he was quite the fisherman! Dick lost Mary Lou to cancer at a young age.
In 1985 Dick married Lynn (Maves) McMahon. They lived in the Colfax area about 38 years. After retiring, Dick became more interested in landscape work and preparing perennial garden areas for Lynn to plant. Together, they created a place for others to visit and tour their gardens. Dick enjoyed the friendships that developed through these garden visits. He was a long-time member of the Northern Wisconsin Hosta Society (NWHS). He was also a member of the Eau Claire Garden Club (ECGC) for a brief time. Dick was a member of the Tainter United Methodist Church, where he and Lynn created garden areas around the church and maintained them for about 10 years.
Dick enjoyed spending time with his family, getting together with friends to play cards or enjoy a meal out. Friends were amused by his quiet humor. He loved going to his grandchildren’s basketball games as well as attending their cross-country competitions. He enjoyed visiting gardens and arboretums with Lynn, always looking for ideas for their own gardens. They spent endless hours planning garden spaces and watching birds, deer, and other wildlife at home.
He is survived by Lynn Nehring; three daughters, Denise (Todd) McMahon, Karen (Brian Nelsen) Nehring, and Julie Enloe; five grandchildren, Nissa, Karissa, and Tala Enloe, Nathan (Cassie) McMahon, and Sarah (Mike Capobianco) McMahon; three great-grandchildren Catalina Enloe, Sabrina Larson and William McMahon.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Julius and Mabel Nehring; first wife, Mary Lou Nehring, son-in-law Dennis Enloe, brothers Carl, Howard, Allen, Phillip, William, Oliver, Harold, and Arthur Nehring, sisters Ruth Auburt, Dorothy Hop, and Ramona Britton.
The family wishes to thank the Mayo Clinic Health System Cancer Center staff, especially Ruta Kirstein, for their wonderful care and support throughout the last six years and, more recently, the staff of The Neighbors of Dunn County and St. Croix Hospice for their care and support.
Memorial services will be held on Thursday, January 2, 2025, at 12:00 noon at the Tainter United Methodist Church, rural Menomonie, with Pastor Hae Jin Bahng officiating. Visitation at the church from 11:00 a.m. to noon. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Olson Funeral Home in Menomonie, WI, is serving the family.
To share a memory, please visit obituaries at www.olsonfuneral.com.