Olson, Leonard E. 1913-2002

OLSON, HOEPPNER, PHIPPS

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, volunteer (email)
Date: 4/18/2009 at 18:46:54

CHEROKEE, Iowa -- Leonard E. Olson, 88, of Cherokee died Saturday, May 11, 2002, at Cherokee Villa following a lengthy illness.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee, with the Rev. Richard Arndt officiating. Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery. There will be a family prayer service at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday at the church. Visitation will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today, with the family present 6:30 to 8 p.m., at Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee.

Leonard was born Oct. 24, 1913, in Plymouth County, Iowa, to Otto and Caroline Hattie (Hoeppner) Olson. He attended schools in Remsen Township, Plymouth County.

He married Emily Phipps on Nov. 16, 1934, in Storm Lake, Iowa. He had been a resident of Cherokee County practically all his life. He had worked for Baumann's Bakery, worked construction on the Alcan Highway in Alaska, and had been employed by Illinois Central Railroad for a few years. In later years, he owned and operated Olson Transfer in Cherokee, retiring in 1976. He became a resident of Cherokee Villa in September 2001.

He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church. He enjoyed hunting, woodworking, pitching horseshoes, fishing and was a nature enthusiast. Following his retirement, he continued his enjoyment of fishing at his cottage in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

He is survived by his wife, Emily; a son and his wife, Jack and Dorothy Olson of Cherokee; a daughter and her husband, Janne and Ron Johnson of Cherokee; six grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; three brothers, Harold and his wife, Josephine Olson of Storm Lake, Francis and his wife, Pat Olson of Cherokee, and Virgil Olson of Minneapolis; five sisters, Anita and her husband, George Nelson of Cherokee, Evelyn Scott of Cherokee, Luella Cipperley of Holstein, Iowa, Margaret and her husband, Thomas Patris of San Diego, Calif., and Darlene Milbrodt of Sioux City; a sister-in-law, Betty Olson of Cherokee; a brother-in-law and his wife, Marvin and Boneta Phipps of Cherokee; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Merlyn, William "Bill" and Donald Olson; and four sisters, Clara Williams, Viola Brownmiller, Mary Joyce Olson and Dorothy Olson.

~Source: The Sioux City Journal, part of the Darrell E. Obituary Collection