Leslie Clyde Jordan, 84
Leslie C. Jordan, age 84 of Nashua, died Monday, July 4, 2022, at New Hampton Nursing and Rehab.
The funeral service will be held at 4 p.m. Friday, July 8, 2022, at Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory/Olson Chapel with Charlie Dietz presiding.
Interment will follow at Greenwood Cemetery in Nashua, with Matthew Bailey, Leslye Horn, Lucas Fisher, Lacy Fisher, Adam Hubbard, Myles Schrage, Brad Warner and Dusty Horn as pallbearers.
Friends may greet the family from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday, July 8, 2022, at Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory/Olson Chapel in Nashua.
Les was born on Aug. 28, 1937, in Frederika, and he was the oldest son of Clyde and Cleora (Slick) Jordan. He grew up in Frederika with his six brothers and sisters and attended school in the small Bremer County town where he developed a solid work ethic.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served his country from 1958 to 1960, and shortly after he came home from the Army, he married Irene Maklenburg in September 1960.
The couple first lived in Waterloo and then moved to an acreage just east of Nashua, where they raised their four children — Steven, Cindy, Barb and Brenda — who had a strong father in their lives. He was the first one to wake them up early to get their chores done. Those tasks included everything from building fences to cutting wood to working in the garden to mowing the lawn to driving tractors. Les may have been stern, and at the time, maybe the kids thought it was unacceptable but today, they know it was his way of teaching them respect.
They also remember that as hard as they worked, they also played “long.” They went to sale barns together and came home with all kinds of animals — everything from goats to stray calves — they went Frederika to visit Les’ large family, where the Jordan kids never had a shortage of cousins, aunts and uncles to play with and visit.
Les enjoyed spending time with his family, and he liked to take them snowmobiling, take them to Split Rock to play in the water or going to the Big 4 Fair to watch the chuckwagon races.
He worked at Rath Packing in Waterloo for several years and then he hauled canned milk for years while Irene hauled bulk milk so the Jordan kids remember the truck rides they took with their parents. Later in life, Les worked for Tiedt Drainage doing tile work before he retired.
Les had 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, who have fond memories of riding with Grandpa on his four-wheeler and his golf cart. Les and one of his grandsons sold sweet corn together, and all the grandchildren remember when they went to their grandparents’ house, they always got a bowl of ice cream before they went to bed.
He loved to have people stop over to talk and reminisce about the “good old days,” and he and his son, who lived across the road from him, loved to “tinker” together.
Les lived a simple and yes, maybe at times, stern life. He lived his life the way he wanted and loved his family — his wife of almost 62 years, his children, his grandchildren and his greats — in his own way. One of his daughter’s favorite memories was just going to Dad’s, knowing he would be sitting in the shed and would ask her “what was I up to today?” They would visit, and when she would leave he would without fail say, “thanks for coming up and seeming me; come back again.”
And he will be missed.
Les is survived by his wife, Irene of Nashua; one son, Steven (Karen) Jordan of Nashua; three daughters, Cindy (Terry) Bailey of Nashua, Barb (Bruce) Koeff of Denver, and Brenda Fisher of Nashua; 11 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; two brothers Terry (Lois) Jordan of Sumner, and Roger Jordan of Fredericksburg; and two sisters, Joyce Pitz of Frederika, and Sandy Tuitger of Waverly.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Jim Jordan; sister, Lavonna Hansen; sister-in-law, Della Jordan; and brothers-in-law, Charlie Hansen, Jerry Pitz and Raymond Tuitger.
