Dr. John W. Nolan

Dr. John W. Nolan, 74 of Mason City, died on Monday, April 4, 2022, at the Clarion Wellness Center. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 11, 2022, at Grace Evangelical Free Church, 440 N Illinois Ave., Mason City. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service time. Inurnment will be held in the Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery.

John was born on May 3, 1947, in Billings, MT to parents Philip and Lorraine Nolan. His family moved to his childhood home of Hastings, MN in 1955; and he attended St. John’s University where he built long lasting connections and stoked his joy of music in the St. John’s University Men’s Chorus. After leaving St. John’s in 1965, he joined the Navy for 9 years as a radio man and cultured his love of adventure and traveling. He decided to pursue a career in medicine and attended the University of Iowa for pre-med courses, where he fortuitously met the love of his life, Vicky Rogers, at both church and work. They were married in 1981 and had 5 beautiful children, raising them across the country and the world following John’s medical career in the Army. He retired as a Lt. Colonel and worked across Northern Iowa and Minnesota, ending his career at the VA in Rochester. John loved people and conversation, and had a knack for finding new people who never left a stranger. As a man of great faith, he felt strongly to always be serving others, frequently volunteering to use his hands, heart and brain to build communities everywhere, from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to Vietnam. John took great delight in his children and grandchildren, and never turned down a baked good.

John will be deeply missed by his wife Vicky, his children and their spouses- Amber and Jason, Isaac and Laurel, Ryan and Meghan, and Ben and Kelsey, as well as his grandchildren- Camdyn, Brek, Layton, Kyson, Victoria, Aria, and Ellery. John leaves behind his dearly loved siblings- Peter, Jim, Steve, Dave, Jeff, Tom, Margaret, and Kathy as well as their families.

He was preceded in death by his son Aaron Nolan, parents Philip and Lorraine Nolan, father-in-law Earl Rogers, and sister-in-law Diane Nolan.