Richard Lee 'Dick' Olson, 28 Aug 1944 - 02 Jul 2024

OLSON, HELGESON

Posted By: Sarah Witte (email)
Date: 7/11/2024 at 14:08:51

Richard Lee “Dick” Olson, age 79 of Marengo, passed away Tuesday, July 2, 2024, at his home. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 P.M. Monday, July 8, 2024, at Kloster Funeral Home, Marengo. Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 A.M. Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at First Lutheran Church, rural Marengo with Rev. Zach Bey officiating. Burial will be in First Lutheran Cemetery. Memorials may be contributed to First Lutheran Church. Kloster Funeral Home, Marengo is assisting the family with arrangements.

Dick is survived by his wife Karen; two sons, Brian and wife Kerri of Grinnell, and their children Isaac and Olivia, and Chad and wife Meg of Minneapolis, MN and their children Henrik and Fern. Also surviving is his brother Jim Olson of Olympia, Washington. Dick was preceded in death by his parents, Walt in 1991 and Grace in 2020.

Richard Lee Olson was born August 28, 1944, in New Cumberland, West Virginia, the son of Walter Leonard Olson and Grace Ellen Helgeson Olson. He received his education in the Iowa Valley Schools in Marengo, graduating from Iowa Valley High School in 1962. He attended technical school in Cedar Rapids. Dick met Karen Hahn through a friend from St. Luke’s Hospital. Dick and Karen eloped and were married on December 4, 1971, in Sterling, Illinois. The couple resided in Cedar Rapids, Toddville and eventually the family settled in rural Marengo.

Dick was a member of the Marengo American Legion Post #76, the Cedar Rapids Motorcycle Club, First Lutheran Church, rural Marengo, and the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers.

Dick loved what he did and he did a lot. He loved his work as a Machinist on second shift at Quaker Oats in Cedar Rapids. He was there for 32 years. He and Karen also managed Hillcrest Garden Market. He loved every minute of life and enjoyed everything he did. Living life the way he did to the fullest left many lasting memories.

His growing adventures began from growing grapes to make homemade wine. He added new things every year and for many years grew many acres of sweet corn, asparagus, strawberries, pumpkins and other crops. The market ventures expanded over the years to include Christmas tree sales, sleigh rides, farm tours, and Fall festivals. He loved to fish, loved his family, loved to create things…he was proud of the things he’d done.

Many Memories come to mind, such as traveling the Midwest racing motocross with Brian and Chad, creating four seasons of gardens for the movie set of the NBC’s “In the Best Interest of the Children”, touring kids through the pumpkin tours on the farm, Dad was always making or working on something, building ponds with antique bulldozers, and fishing in the pond!

He will be missed.

Published in The Gazette on July 6, 2024 and in The Hometown Current on July 10, 2024.