R. Norine ODLAND

ODLAND, STENSON, LYNCH, WHEELER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/20/2006 at 02:05:01

R. Norine Odland, 83, of Clarion, died Wednesday, March 20, 2002 at Wright Medical Center, Clarion. Funeral services were held Saturday, March 23rd at Holmes Lutheran Church. Rev. Paul Rothfusz officiated at the 1:30 p.m. service. Burial was in Holmes Lutheran Cemetery. Willim Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. R. Norine Odland was born the oldest child of Earl and Clara (Stenson) Odland on February 16, 1919, on a farm north of Holmes in Wright County. She was baptized and confirmed in the Holmes Lutheran Church. Growing up in the area of her birth she attended Lake Township #4 country school and Clarion High School, graduating in 1935. Norine attended Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, graduating in 1939. She taught in grade schools in Neola, Iowa City and Storm Lake in Iowa, Naperville, Illinois, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1951, she moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and began teaching and doing graduate studies at the University of Minnesota. In 1951, Norine received her MA and in 1959 received her Ph D. She was a professor of children's literature in the College of Education until her retirement from the University in 1989, a career spanning 50 years. In her retirement, Norine continued to be active in the area of children's literature, with her family and friends and in supporting Multiple Sclerosis research and awareness. In 1995, Norine moved to Wright Medical Center in Clarion where she resided until her death. She was a member of the Holmes Lutheran Church, American Library Association, National College Teachers of English, International Reading Association and a recipient of the Kerlan Award for Excellence in Children's Literature. Survivors include one sister, Elma Lynch and husband, Lowell of Clarion; one brother, Earl S. (Bud) Odland and wife, Lela of Clarion; four nieces; three nephews; numerous other family, friends and caregivers. She was preceded in death by her mother in 1978, father in 1982, and one sister, Segnora Wheeler in 1994.

© Wright County Monitor 2002