Olga Olson

Olga Olson, 90, of Brainerd, went home to be with the Lord on December 22, 2022. The Funeral Service will be held at First Lutheran Church in Brainerd, Minnesota, on Saturday, January 14, 2023 at 11:00 am. There will be a visitation held one hour prior to the start of the service. Burial will be next to her late husband at Evergreen Cemetery in Brainerd following the service. Lunch and fellowship will follow at First Lutheran Church.

Olga was born on February 7, 1932, to Sydney and Ellen (Nordstrom) Leonard in Brainerd, Minnesota, where she grew up and graduated from high school. On June 27, 1953, she married Morris Olson.  She supervised dining halls at the former Brainerd State Hospital for 26 years and then worked at Barnabus Home Health Care Center.

Olga was an active member within the community, loved to sing hymns, and cherished study of the Bible. A member of the First Lutheran Church in Brainerd, Eastern Star, Sons of Norway, and Central Lakes Corvette Club, she was wonderful to meet and sad to leave. Despite entering this life in bitterest February cold and exiting it during a below-zero December whiteout, she brought warmth and light. In this she was like the saint celebrated by Lutherans in her Mother's Scandinavian home archipelago of Åland (where Olga once traveled): the blonde and beautiful Lucia of the shining candles. Like December’s traditional bringer of light, hymns, and treats on the shortest day of the year to appreciative Norwegians, Finns, and Swedes, Olga shared Lucia’s passion for sweets. To mark her love for all things honeyed, her family and the kind staff of Northern Lakes Senior Living organized her 90th birthday last February as a Candy Girl Party. There were songs about candy, trivia games about candy, decor of candy, and prizes all of candy – even enough for Olga.

She is survived by her children, Gordon (Jane), Glen, and Danel (Catherine); grandchildren, Adam (Megan), Hannah (Billy), Emily and Juliana; and great-grandchildren Brayton and Carson.

Olga is preceded in death by her loving husband, Morris; parents, Sydney and Ellen; and siblings, Clifford Leonard, Minnie Davis, Stanley Leonard, Roy Leonard, Dorothy Lyons, and Donna Wiggins.

Arrangements are entrusted to Brenny Family Funeral Chapel, Baxter.