Gladys Juliana Simonson Olson (1919-2010)
OLSON, SIMONSON, JOHNSON, KELLY
Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 4/24/2010 at 09:44:16
THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Friday, April 23, 2010.
Gladys Juliana Simonson Olson, 90, died Friday, April 16, 2010. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 29, at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 209 Colorado Ave., in Ames.
Gladys was born May 22, 1919, on a farm near Thompson, the second of five children born to Severien Simonson and Ida Johnson. Gladys’ mother died in 1929, at the height of the Depression, when Gladys was 9 years old. The family disbanded; her brother, the eldest, to a farm family near Thompson, and her three younger sisters to various aunts and uncles. Gladys was taken in by the local Lutheran minister and family, the Rev. J.J. Skarpness. Gladys was a lifelong member of the Lutheran church.
After graduation from high school in 1937, she attended Waldorf College in Forest City for one year. In 1938, she moved to Fort Amadore, Panama Canal Zone, with Ruth Skarpness and husband, Col. Allen Craig, an Army doctor. She was a nanny for the Craig’s four children.
Upon returning from Panama, she enrolled at Drake University in Des Moines, where she earned a teaching degree. She then taught fourth grade in Manilla for two years. In 1947, she moved to Dows, where she taught fourth grade and met her future husband, Cliff Olson. Cliff and Gladys were married Aug. 16, 1948. In 1953, Cliff and Gladys moved to Denver, Colo., where at the age of 36 she gave birth to her only child, Jolene.
She leaves to mourn her husband of nearly 62 years, Cliff; one daughter, Jolene and husband, Marty Kelly; grandson, Devin and great-grandson, Tristan Kelly; and grandson, Shane and wife, Chelsea Kelly.
Her parents and siblings preceded her in death.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established with Iowa Hospice. The staff of Riverside Manor and Iowa Hospice will always be remembered for their compassion and care.
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