Wayne Robert Olson
Posted By Ballard Sunder Funeral Home On January 6, 2017 @ 5:14 pm In 2017,Obituaries | 19 Comments
Wayne Robert Olson of Prior Lake passed away on January 6, 2017 at the age of 85. A Memorial Gathering will be held on Sunday, January 15, 2017 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM at Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation; 4565 Pleasant Street SE; Prior Lake, MN. A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Monday, January 16, 2017 at 11:00 AM with visitation one-hour prior and lunch immediately after at Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church; 3611 North Berens Road NW; Prior Lake, MN. Pastors Laila Barr and Steve Bonesho will preside, and Wayne’s sons, David and Gregg will act as urn and flag bearers. Military honors will be provided by the Prior Lake Honor Guard, and Wayne will be laid to rest at Spring Lake Cemetery.
On September 13, 1931 Wayne was born to parents, Robert and Hazel (Westlund) Olson. He was the eldest of three and loved growing up on his family’s dairy farm in Clayton, WI where he developed a good work ethic. As a boy, Wayne had a strong curiosity. He loved to learn and tinker with things. He especially enjoyed playing the piano and working on lawn mowers.
After graduating from Amery High School, Wayne attended the University of Wisconsin – Madison where he earned a degree in engineering. This is also where he met the love of his life, Virginia (“Ginny”) Clumpner, a fellow student at the University of Wisconsin. Their eyes met across the dinner table at a gathering of fellow believers. After Wayne walked her home that evening, he knew that Ginny was the girl for him.
During college, Wayne enlisted in the ROTC, and after graduating from college in 1953, he served for two years with the United States Army, based in Germany much of the time, proudly serving his country. Shortly afterwards and after an honorable discharge, he and Ginny were married on October 1, 1955. They were blessed with four children and settled in St. Paul to raise their family. In 1968, they built a house on Prior Lake where they remained until 2006. Wayne spent 30+ years working for Unisys (formerly Univac). He was an electrical engineer and designed defense components and integrated circuit testing for government systems. Wayne was also involved in developing a number of patents for Unisys.
Outside of work, Wayne enjoyed carpentry, photography and woodworking. Wayne was a wonderful pianist, playing every night at home, both classical and contemporary music. He loved singing with the Lakelanders Barbershop Chorus and the church choir, which he did until just recently. He was an active member of Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church, and also, more recently, Living Joy Lutheran Church. He had a special place in his heart for mission work, both locally and internationally, especially Africa. Wayne collected antique tools, loved to learn and enjoyed biblical archeology and genealogy. He was active for almost 20 years in a monthly dinner group called the Collaborative Cuisine & Camaraderie (“CCC”) group, the Willing Extra Years of Zest (“WXYZ”) group from church, an electrical engineers group from Unisys, held season tickets for the Minnesota Orchestra, still attended his high school’s class reunion and had started attending his extended family’s annual reunion in Wisconsin. He made it a point to travel to every grandchild’s birthday celebration, even if it took him to the Chicago area or the Atlanta area.
After Ginny passed away in July, 2010, Wayne leaned on his wonderful family and his deep faith to help him through a difficult time. He took it upon himself to try new recipes in the kitchen, having not cooked hardly at all prior to Ginny’s passing, getting very excited when cooking was a success.
In March 2014, Wayne invited his friend and neighbor, Birgitta Greene, to accompany him to a concert at Orchestra Hall. Wayne and Birgitta quickly discovered that they had so much in common and truly enjoyed each other’s company. Their friendship grew deeper every day, and Birgitta quickly became another love in Wayne’s life. Together they enjoyed attending concerts, listening to classical music, going to the Swedish Institute, watching movies and shows on PBS, and sharing meals together. Soon Birgitta was joining Wayne at their monthly dinners with friends in the CCC group and the WXYZ group from church and attending his barbershop chorus events.
Wayne had many hobbies and interests, but Christ was first in his life, and his family was a close second. Wayne lived humbly and set a wonderful example for his family. He was a mentor to many and treated everyone with kindness. The past few weeks, Wayne became ill, but he was able to enjoy a beautiful Christmas Eve at home with family. He had been getting physical therapy and occupational therapy at the Masonic Home in Bloomington to become strong enough to return home. While taking a short morning nap there, Wayne passed away peacefully and unexpectedly on January 6, 2017. Wayne will be remembered as a compassionate man and a devout Christian. He had a zest for learning and there was always a curious sparkle in his eye.
He will be deeply missed by his children, Chris (John) Ricketts, Gregg (Diane) Olson, David (Jody Bylund) Olson, Steve (LeAnn Penas) Olson; grandchildren, Jenna Ricketts, Grayson Ricketts, Stephanie (Alvin Stone) Olson, Brandon Olson, Katie Olson and Jacob Olson; great-grandchild, Elayna Stone; sister, Donna (Roger) Barrett; special friend and companion, Birgitta Greene.
Wayne was greeted in Heaven by his wife, Virginia Olson; parents, Robert and Hazel Olson; sister, Marilyn (Otto) Ped.
Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation proudly serves the Olson family. www.BallardSunderFuneral.com
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May God comfort the family of Wayne Olson as we of Faribault Barbershop Chorus mourn the loss of one of the best of its members. He was specially talented and a positive influence to every singing venture for many years. He will be Greatly missed.
We will miss Wayne’s beautiful tenor voice, his radiant smile, and his encouraging words. Wayne carried his Christian walk in every step he took, gentle and strong. The world was blessed the day Wayne came into it. We will shed tears, then we will celebrate Wayne’s passing into his new home in Heaven.
Wayne and I got to know one another through Ancestry.com. His grandmother and my great-grandmother were sisters. He and I shared information and great conversations about our families. He was such fun. I will miss him at the yearly Oliver/Argue family reunions. I’ll bet he is having a wonderful family reunion as we speak.
My sincere condolences to you and your family Chris. It was my great honor to have known your Mom and Dad. My prayers go out for all of you!
I am wishing you warm thoughts and condolences to you and your family! I remember your father’s warm smile, voice; and incredible singing growing with you at Shepard of the Lake.
Please correct : ShepErd – sp. ~ Thank you!!
So sorry to hear about Wayne’s passing. He was such a wonderful man. I got to know him over the last few years as he drove to Wisconsin to do research on his Oliver line of his family. I was the President of the Argue/Oliver reunion. The first time he came to the reunion we spent a second day sharing information and visiting spots where our ancestors lived. He continued to drive from Minnesota to Wisconsin for several years after that to be part of the family at our reunion. Last August was the first reunion he had missed in a long time. We all missed his smiling face and genuine interest in our family’s history. I guess now he will be able to meet those ancestors that we have only known in pictures before.
Suzy Benjamin & Taban Sigin
We got to know Wayne thru his wife Jenny, they have been really good people to us and they really cared for our family, after Jenny passed away Wayne remained our friend and always helped us with all of our needs with our kids and our family, he treated us like we were one of his family and him ours. We are very sad for the passing of Wayne, he will be deeply missed and remembered we know he is in a better place right now.We wish the family of Wayne Olson peace and love and though they may never recover from this lost I am happy to say me and Taban will always be here for the family of Wayne.
My deepest of sympathy to you , Chris and your family . I have warm memories of your welcoming parents . I know that your presence closer to your dad meant a lot to him during the last years of his life. I hope that you see a lot of the red cardinals to comfort you!
I have been searching my familys anchesters in Amerika for meny years. My great grandfather went in the late 1800 s with his brothers, sisters and father to USA and I found no trace of them until Wayne contacted me. He had made a remarkable study over our familytree and in fact he knew more about some swedish anchesters than I had found out. This lead to a mailconversation with Wayne over a bit more than a year. I deeply regret your loss and I will miss the contact with him a lot. From all your and Waynes realtives here in Sweden (although I now live in Spain) I send you our sincere condolences
To the family and friends of Wayne Olson
I met Wayne many many years ago when he sought out some physical therapy. I so enjoyed getting to know this amazing and warm hearted man who was so interesting and kind! We realized we were both members of SOLLC and that his wife was also a PT. He was the kind of guy you just wanted to have tea or coffee with every week. I have had a special place in my heart for Wayne all these years. And have enjoyed seeing him in the choir or at church over the years; I will miss this.
God shared a special person with us for many years…and has now taken him back home. Thanks for sharing him, we have been blessed!
May Waynes family know that Wayne influenced countless people in his lifetime
His work w Global Ministry was admirable. Wayne , Ginny and family have intersected my life since 1970 when they lived on Frost Point Road next to Ted!!
Wayne and Ginny were in CCC with me and we welcomed Birgitta the last few years. Wayne introduced me to a bible study group that I really enjoy…thank you Wayne for living a life that was full and inspiring. Your children should be comforted to know you have left an imprint on this earth and many hearts.
Rest In Peace and until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
Your Irish friend
Mary
P.S. you perfected the March Corn Beef and cabbage meal
I perfected the home made Baileys!
Give Ginny a hug and a squeeze from me
We will take good care of Birgitta
Jodi & David and Olson family,
Deepest Sympathy on the loss of Wayne.
Our condolences to all my Olson cousins. It is so hard to loose our parents, but knowing what a wonderful fulfilling, active life Wayne has lead is so comforting. He is with his love Ginny again.
Much love and our prayers to all of you.
On behalf of David and I, we wish you peace and healing hearts during the difficult days ahead. We know what the tremendous loss of a dad feels like, and we are so very sorry. Your dad and my mom found each other late in life after both of them had already lost the loves of their lives. I know that my mom never in a million years would have thought that she would ever find love again. After many innocent outings to Orchestra Hall, sharing rides to church, and keeping each other company on the front porch, Wayne offered a gentle hand and my mom took it. Of course at the time she convinced herself he needed her to help steady him, but I think she knew at that moment that they had both discovered a love and companionship that they had both come to cherish. We are thankful they made each other so happy for the few years that they had together. Grief is the price we pay for loving with all our heart.
I’m saddened by Wayne’s passing, his sunny countenance always brightened my Sundays. We at times enjoyed brunch together between services or sat together for music or services when neither of us had someone else to sit with. My condolences go out to his family, he’s a good man.
Our deepest sympathy and condolences from Tamar and Shaul mor his friends in Israel
I got to know Wayne many years ago ,we worked together on an Israeli Air Force project managed by Spery Univac ,we got to appreciate Wayne for his outstanding professional capabilities but especially for his humanly and friendly behavior to us ,
We spend some time together ,we remember being invited to Ginny and Wayne’s home for a discussion on about the history of Mazada,we were astonished by his knowledge deeply involved in all the details.
We kept in tough during all these years, fortunaly he had lunch together last Pesach, will visiting our son in Plymoth,
Deepest sorrow for loss of wayne
We enjoyed knowing Wayne and Ginny. They were good friends to everyone they met. We miss Ginny and now Wayne. We will meet again, my friends.
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Our deepest sympathy and prayers go out to the family of Wayne Olson in his sudden passing. Wayne (and Ginny) were initial members of the Collaborative Cuisine and Camaraderie dinner group – part of the Small Group Ministry at SOLLC. “CCC” as the group is lovingly called will celebrate their 20th year together in April, 2017! Wayne will be missed so very much. With our love, David and Karen Von Guten