Gladys G. (Opheim) OLSON

OLSON, GARVER, DAHLEN, OPHEIM, FISCHER, MEONO, MCCOLLUM, SMITH, CARTER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/16/2010 at 21:02:56

August 4, 2005
Petoskey News-Review -- Petoskey, Michigan

Gladys G. Olson, 96, of Independence Village and Harbor Springs, passed away on Aug. 3, 2005, at Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, Aug. 8, at the Schiller Funeral Home in Harbor Springs with the Rev. Kathy Cadarette officiating.

Gladys was born Nov. 9, 1908, in Thor, Iowa, the daughter of Ole A. and Gunda (Dahlen) Opheim. She attended Thor schools and graduated from Eagle Grove High School. She attended Waldorf College in Iowa, where she obtained her teaching certificate. She then obtained a degree in teaching from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. On July 22, 1933, she married Stuart Olson at Thor, Iowa. The couple made their home in Wauwatosa, Wis., where they both taught school. Gladys primarily taught kindergarten. The couple retired in 1973 and moved to Harbor Springs. Stuart preceded her in death in 2003. Gladys was an active member of the United Methodist Church in Harbor Springs. She made many crafts and pies for the church bazaars.

She is survived by her children, Mary Fischer and her husband, John, of Harbor Springs and John Olson and his wife, Linda, of Sumter, S.C. There are seven grandchildren, Kristin Fischer, Lesley Fischer, Debra (Gregg) Garver, all of Harbor Springs, Tracy (Chris) Meono of Ann Arbor, Anne (Bret) McCollum of Carmel, Ind., Sarah (Jeff) Smith of Franklin, Ind., Stuart (Mary Beth) Olson of Mars, Pa. Also surviving are 12 great-grandchildren and a sister, Mabel Carter, of Beemer, Neb. She was preceded in death by six sisters and one brother. The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the United Methodist Church or the Little Traverse Conservancy.