MADISON, Wis. (WTAQ) A memorial service will be held this afternoon in Madison for state Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen. Governor Jim Doyle and other state officials will attend the service, which begins at one o’clock at Bethel Lutheran Church a few blocks from the State Capitol.

Public visitations begin there at 10. Nilsestuen drowned last Wednesday while swimming in Lake Superior at Marquette Michigan. He was on vacation while serving as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.

Nilsestuen will be buried later this week at his home town of Arcadia, where his family farm was started in 1866. The governor has ordered flags at state facilities to be flown at half-staff today in Nilsestuen’s honor.

The 62-year-old Nilsestuen headed the state Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection since the start of Doyle’s governorship in 2003.