Joseph Michael Nygaard Obituary

Joseph (Joey) Michael Nygaard was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 4, 1953. He loved living in Southern California but his heart always remained in South Dakota. He passed in Brookings, South Dakota on November 29, 2022.

He was an extraordinarily gifted craftsman and began his career in the flooring and tile industry at Wilshire Tile in Los Angeles in the late 1970s. Samples of his work can be found at numerous homes, restaurants, and businesses throughout the greater Los Angeles area, across the country, and around the globe.

Music was essential to Joey’s life, and so was the joy he got from introducing others to his own musical discoveries— there was never a holiday or road trip without music playing, and you better believe it was coming from a quality speaker. Joey was a voracious reader in his younger years with a special admiration for Frank Herbert’s DUNE and JRR Tolkien.

Joey loved growing up with his parents and four sisters. Most of all, he looked forward to the biannual trips to South Dakota in the back of the station wagon. He always had great stories to share and left the room laughing.

If anyone talked to Joey for more than a minute, he was sure to tell them about his daughter Grace, son Joseph, and how incredibly proud he was of them.

Joey is survived by his beloved children: daughter Grace Gilmore (Brian) and son Joseph S. Nygaard of Lincoln, Nebraska; former wife and mother of his children Sandra DeWitt; sisters Joni Crummett (John), Patricia Nygaard, Karen Leone (Robert), and Kathleen Naoumovitch (Athanasios); and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

He was preceded in death by parents, Joseph and Mary Nygaard of California.