Andrew Almelien, 48, of Atlantic, Iowa formerly of Clarinda, Iowa, passed away suddenly on Saturday, April 25, 2026, of natural causes at Clarinda Regional Health Center.
A Memorial Service will be held at 10:30 a.m., on Saturday, May 2, 2026, at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Clarinda, Iowa with Pastor Marcia Cline officiating.
Visitation with family will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, May 1, 2026, at Nodaway Valley Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to Andrew Almelien Memorial to be designated toward a “Do What’s Right” scholarship in Andrew’s name.
Memories can be shared with the family at www.nodawayvalleyfuneralhome.com. Arrangements were entrusted to the Nodaway Valley Funeral Home of Clarinda.
Andrew was born August 4, 1977, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. He was the beloved first born son of James Edward and Kathleen Ann (Doyle) Almelien. They brought their son home from the hospital to Winfield, Iowa. He would become a big brother in 1981 when Erin joined and completed their family. When Andrew was in 4th grade, his family moved to Washington, Iowa. He graduated from Washington High School in 1996. While attending Washington, he was a member of the football team, in choir and threw shotput for the track team. When not throwing shot, he could be found grilling next to the bus. He would develop a passion for singing and football. After graduating, he went to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. While at Coe, he developed many great friendships on 1st floor Armstrong. He was also a member of the football team and participated in choir. He majored in Elementary Education. He started his teaching career as an Elementary School Teacher in Clarinda, Iowa in 2001 where he also coached 7-8 football for 24 years, led the golf team for 17 years and coached middle school girl’s track.
While in Clarinda, Andrew taught 4th grade. It was in Clarinda where he met the love of his life, the band teacher, Shannon Touney. They were married on March 21, 2009, in Nebraska City, NE. They would welcome their son Erik Valentine Almelien on July 20, 2010. Addison Irene Almelien came along on October 17, 2011, as Shannon was receiving her first master’s degree. Andrew and his family left Clarinda in 2025 to follow and support Shannon’s new position as 7-12 Principal at CAM Jr/Sr High School. Andrew became a 5th grade teacher at Griswold Elementary School.
Andrew loved nothing more than teaching, coaching and being involved in his children’s activities. He loved golfing, fishing, camping, playing poker, singing and cheering on his Hawkeyes. But his passion was watching his kids play sports, sing and play their instruments. He loved to cook but we all know that cleaning was not his thing. He would say that it was because he was too busy going to his children’s activities.
Preceding Andrew in death were his grandparents, Dr. Keith and B. Joy (Moore) Doyle and Edward and Opal (Houghman) Almelien; grandparents-in-law, Fred and Ethel (Kinnersley) Touney, Veva Rankin and Val and Irene (Gawart) Crume; brother-in-law, Ryan Touney; uncles, Ronald Ray Almelien, Dave Butz; cousins, Abby Almelien, Keith Doyle; and brother in heart, Clint (Lucky) Zahradnek.
Left to cherish his memory are his beloved wife of 17 years, Shannon (Touney) Almelien of Atlantic; children, Erik V. Almelien and Addison I. Almelien of Atlantic; parents, James and Kathleen (Doyle) Almelien of Washington, Iowa; sister, Erin (Tracy) Almelien of Washington, Iowa; parents-in-law, Richard and Linda (Crume) Touney of South Sioux City, Nebraska; brothers-in-laws, Troy (Tiffany) Touney of South Sioux City, Nebraska, Dr. Corey Touney of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Sean Touney of Sioux City, Iowa, sister-in-law, Gina Touney of Jackson, Nebraska; his beloved nieces and nephews; other extended relatives and many friends.
The family kindly asks that all attendees come dressed casually in their school spirit wear—Clarinda in Cardinal gear, Griswold in Tiger gear, CAM in Cougar gear, Washington in Demon gear, Coe in Kohawk gear, Iowa in Hawkeye gear and if you are from Nebraska wear your ‘ugly red’ because he secretly cheered for you too… Don’t tell anybody.
