Ruth Mildred Olson

Ruth Mildred Christensen was born on May 21, 1912 in Galena Township, the fifth child of Lars and Caroline (Hanson) Christensen. She was baptized and confirmed at Waverly Lutheran Church where she continued her membership until her death. She attended School Dist. 82 from 1917-1926, going by horse and buggy. The next four years she attended St. James High School, boarding in town. She graduated in 1930 and went on to St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN but had to leave after one year due to the death of her father in an automobile accident. In 1935 she was united in marriage to Joseph "Bennie? Olson and moved ½ mile south of her birthplace to the farm where she and Bennie lived together until Bennie died in 1985. She continued to live there for another twenty-two years before moving to St. James Prairie View Apartments in 2007. She was an excellent seamstress sewing numerous wedding and bridesmaid dresses as well as suits, dresses and children's clothes. In later years she turned to quilting and working with the Waverly Lutheran Church women and created masterpieces that sold for top dollar at the Green Lake Bible Camp annual auction. This past summer she donated a wall hanging and was very pleased to have her picture in the local newspapers as she stood next to it in the lobby of the Trimont Bank. She was a tireless worker at her beloved Waverly Lutheran Church serving as a Sunday School Superintendant, Ladies Aid officer and in the kitchen for the annual smorgasbord and other food connected activities. She was a proud Norwegian who had three occasions to visit her father's homeland to see where he had lived and gone to church and became acquainted with the many family members who'd stayed in Norway. She loved life, loved being busy, loved belonging to Garden Club, Bridge Club and Ladies Aid. Ruth loved being with her family of many nieces and nephews and their offspring and loved giving of herself. Ruth died on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at the Pleasant View-Good Samaritan Center in St. James, MN. Her family knows how lucky they were to have her in their lives for 97 years. Ruth is survived by one sister-in-law, Mildred Christensen of St. James, MN and many nieces and nephews and their families. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Bennie; two sisters, Myra Hanson and Doris Toothaker; three brothers, Thorvald, Leonard and Victor.