SAN DIEGO — Jessica and Troy Nelson, owners of Trojan Promotions in Grand Forks, died while on a trip to San Diego early Monday, Jan. 21.

According to social media posts, they were killed when a 75-foot tree fell onto the house they were staying in. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the tree fell around 6:15 a.m., local time, killing two occupants.

Krisi Lund, the senior production manager for Trojan Promotions, said Jessica and Troy were attending an industry trade show in the area.

The Union-Tribune reported a third person was inside the house at the time but escaped. Further information about the victims was not immediately available.

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Jessica and Troy were not just owners of the business, but worked alongside their employees and treated them with generosity.

“They poured their heart and soul into everything that they did, and this business was one of those things,” Lund said. “They built this business and this is the most wonderful business. They were so good to all of us.”

Troy’s father started a business forms company, Nelson Business Forms, and Troy began working there in 1990. In 2007, Troy and Jessica made Trojan Promotions a separate entity from Nelson Business forms.

Laura Endres, who works for Newman Outdoor, did business with Jessica and Troy.

Endres said that the couple was very involved in the business community of Grand Forks.

“They did a really good job taking a business that (Troy’s dad) started and turning it into something amazing,” Endres said. “It was going to lead to great things.”

Lund had worked with Jessica and Troy since 2008 and said they had become more like family than friends.

“We’re all having a hard time here today,” Lund said. “They were wonderful people, they were dog lovers, they were outdoors lovers.”

Jessica and Troy had a dog named Stella, who Lund said was the love of their lives.

“They loved life,” Lund said. “And they loved living out in the country.”

Jessica and Troy lived outside of Thompson, N.D., on what Lund said Jessica called “their farm.”

After moving to the “farm,” Endres said Jessica talked about having quite a few animals.

“I think animals, in general, were big part of their future and what they wanted it to be,” Endres said.

Lund said that Jessica and Troy were completely devoted to their business and employees.

“They really were family to me, we all worked so hard to make the company into what it is,” Lund said.

Trojan Promotions is closed today, according to the company’s Facebook page.