Maren Heath Olson

(84) of Plymouth, MN, passed away peacefully on March 22nd, surrounded by her loved ones. She was born on August 25th,1940 in Garner, Iowa. The daughter to Alfred “Pete” and Marjorie (Becker) Petersen. She was raised a farmgirl in Forest City, Iowa. At school she was involved in Band; Student Council; Girl’s Glee Club; Cheerleading; Pep Committee; Junior and Senior Class Play; and Pep Club. After graduating Forest City High School in 1958 she worked as a Dental Assistant for a local dentist, and in the Spring of 1959, she boarded the train leaving for the Twin Cities where her journey in Minnesota began. In the Twin Cities in the late 1950s she continued her Dental Assistant training at the University of Minnesota Student Dentist Clinic. Living together with friends from Iowa in a Minneapolis apartment, she met and fell in love with the farmboy next door, and her future husband, James Clinton Olson. Marrying on December 17th, 1960, in Garner, Iowa, she was an excellent mother and incredibly supportive, caring wife. She formed a bond with Jim’s circle of friends from Clarkfield that would last a lifetime. The 1960s through the 80s was spent raising four children in an active household, which included a complete remodeling of, (while simultaneously living in) a turn-of-the-century farmhouse, from foundation to roof, in rural Plymouth. Her husband’s success could often be attributed to her listening ear and wise council. As a hockey, football, and soccer mom she was always the first to cheer her children on in victory and console them in defeat. In November of 1990, she grieved the untimely death of her husband, and as one chapter of her life closed, she opened another. She went back to school earning a degree in Floral Design at North Hennepin Community College. For many years she worked in floral design. As a painter, she expressed herself through oil and watercolor paintings that captured the joy in the heart of a folksy artist. She was an active community member serving on the Welcome Wagon Committee, as an Election Judge, and member of several local Book and Bridge Clubs. She devoted her life, love, and talents to her expanded role as “Grandma Mimi.” As a world traveler she explored six of the seven continents, regularly accompanied by her sister Penny. The last chapter of her life was lived in Cornerstone Co-Op where she took an active role in beautifying the common spaces shared with her friends.

Maren was preceded in death by her husband, Jim Olson, her parents, Pete and Marjorie Petersen, Mother-in-law Allene “Fat” Petersen, her sisters-in-law, Katherine Lohn and Marlene Petersen, her nieces, Debra and Patricia Lohn, and Karen Olson.

Maren is survived by her sister Penny Lovell; her brother, Allan “Murph” (Cindy) Petersen; her brother-in-law, Peter (Judy) Olson; her children, Rev. Kevin (Sandi) Olson, Eric (Trina) Olson, Brian (Amy Strom) Olson, and Kris (Sean) Casey; nieces and nephews, Dr. Marcy (Dr. Eric) Larson, Ryan (Lori) Petersen, Lisa (Scott) Newton, Ryan Olson, Jeff (Katie McCann) Olson, Michelle (Brian) Goble, Teresa (Jeff Robin) Lovell-Greenbaum, Tom (Lisa Wolfe) Lovell; her grandchildren, Thor (Laura) Olson, Travis Olson, Hannah (Dr. Patrick) Barthman, Dane (Georgi Nguyen) Olson, Maren (Sam Velasquez-Eberhart) Olson, Kenneth (Kaylene) Olson, Lillyanne Strom, Benn Olson, and Eric Strom; and great-grandchildren, James and Elanor Olson, Manny Velasquez-Olson, and Remi Jo Olson; and several extended cousins, nephews, and other relations.

Visitation will be on Friday, April 4th from 4 to 7 pm at Gearty-Delmore Funeral Chapels, 15800 37th Ave, N., Plymouth, MN 55446. A Memorial Service will be on Saturday, April 5 at 11am with a visitation an hour prior at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, 5005 Northwest Blvd, Plymouth, MN 55442.

In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to the U of M ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) Study, a study that Maren, her children and her husband's family have been active participants in for the last 35 years since her husband passed away in 1990.

If you would like to make a donation online, please follow this link: Epidemiology and Community Health Fund. At the bottom of the page under Special Options, you can indicate that the donation is in memory of Maren Olson, and in Special Instructions please indicate that this is for ARIC study.

If you would like to mail a donation, please send it to:

University of Minnesota Foundation

PO Box 860266

Minneapolis, MN 55486-0266

Please include a note that the donation is for Fund #17077, directed to the ARIC study, in memory of Maren Olson.