Roger Eldon Olmscheid 1923-2011

WILLIAMS, OLMSCHEID, SHIELDS

Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 1/28/2013 at 12:49:15

Sioux City Journal
13 Decemer 2011

SIOUX CITY -- Roger Eldon Olmscheid, 88, of Sioux City passed away gracefully Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, at Northern Hills Retirement Home.

Services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel, with the Rev. Matthew Miller officiating. Burial will be in Graceland Park Cemetery, with military rites. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. today at the funeral home. Condolences may be sent online to www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Roger Eldon Olmscheid was born Feb. 11, 1923, in Minneapolis, to parents Walter and Myrtle (Williams) Olmscheid. Roger grew up in Medford and Roseburg, Ore., where he was an eager outdoorsman and decorated Eagle Scout. Upon graduation from high school, Roger entered the U.S. Navy in 1942. After flight school, he served active duty in World War II as a gunner and pilot in the Aleutian Islands.

Upon his discharge in 1945, he married his bride, Jo Ellen Shields, in Pensacola, Fla. They moved to Minneapolis, where Roger worked for Occidental Life Insurance. In 1949, he was made general manager and was transferred to Sioux City. In 1953, he left Occidental Life to pursue his passion for the great outdoors. He purchased Morningside Nursery, renamed it Sunnybrook Nursery and began his almost 60-year career as a landscape architect and friend of the natural world. In 1970, Roger moved Sunnybrook to Plymouth County, where he eventually retired.

In Sioux City, Roger became and Shriner and a 33rd Degree Mason. He was a member of the Planning and Zoning Committee, Junior Chamber of Commerce, Sioux City Country Club and Sioux City Boat Club.

Roger leaves behind legacies that grace the Sioux City horizon and hills, thousands upon thousands of the trees and acre upon acre of landscaping that he lovingly planted. We will forever remember Roger as a passionate man with a profound respect for Mother Nature. He will be remembered for his devotion to the natural world.

He is survived by his daughter, Susan Luzier Kamen of Aberdeen, S.D.; a grandson, Jonah Luzier of Sioux Falls, S.D.; a granddaughter, Morgan Luzier of Minneapolis; and two great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Wanda of Roseburg, Ore.; and his brother, Clyde of Norfolk, Neb.