Lyle E. Nielsen, age 82, of Brookings, died Thursday, April 26, 2012, at Avera-McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. Funeral services will be 1:00 P.M. Monday, April 30, 2012, at Morningside Community Church in Brookings, with interment in Greenwood Cemetery. Visitations will be from 5-7 P.M. Sunday at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings. Memorials should be sent to the United Cemetery Fund, c/o Wayne Fischer, 45383 199th St., Arlington, SD 57212. Lyle E. Nielsen was born June 17, 1929, on the family farm north of Arlington, to Niels and Emma (Paulson) Nielsen. He attended Quinn country school, then graduated from Arlington High School in 1947 and farmed with his father. In 1951 he married Alvina Johnson from Sioux Falls, and later that year was called to military duty, serving in Korea, returning home in 1953 when they resumed farming. After becoming paraplegic in 1980 as the result of a car accident, he and his family continued farming for the next two years. They moved to Brookings in 1990. During his lifetime Lyle served as worship leader for First Church of God, now Morningside Community Church, for over 30 years. He held numerous positions on church boards at the local and state level. He taught Sunday School, served on the board of missions, finance committee, evangelism committee, and church council. He served at the state assembly and was chairman for one year. He served on the Mayor's Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities in Brookings for six years. He enjoyed his membership in Golden K Kiwanis Club, serving on various committees. Lyle gave his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ at the early age of 7, which greatly influenced his entire life as a husband and father, and in other ways. For several years he was able to go to Florida for a time during the winter and was privileged to give testimony in word and song in several churches. He enjoyed the ocean, making things with wood, hunting, reading, and in his later years hiking on the trails of Brookings in his wheelchair. He always commented on the provisions in Brookings with cutouts in the curbs. Survivors include his wife, Alvina of Brookings: five children: Dan (Anne) Nielsen of Augusta, Georgia, Lori (Mark) Meester of Madison, Wisconsin, Candace (Cam) Marler of Dayton, Ohio, Julie (Curt) Lee of Wichita, Kansas, and Joel (Dina) Nielsen of Arlington, South Dakota; 11 grandchildren; four brothers: Clint, Curtis, Charles, and Elden Nielsen; one sister, Vicki; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, and two sisters: Opal and Violet.