Obituary of Russell B. Olson

Russell B. Olson, 87, of Bloomington, MN passed away the morning of October 8th, 2016. He served our country through the US Coast Guard Reserves aboard the USS Lorain from 1945 to 1946. During his time with the military, he was able to do some extraordinary traveling. He always held his military experience in high regard and looked forward to his bi-monthly US Coast Guard Vets group meetings and the annual USCG Reunion. Russell married the love of his life, June Marie on May 14th, 1948 and together they raised their four children, Michael John (spouse Leslie), Douglas Gene (spouse Claudia), Melody Kay and Russell Alan (spouse Barbara). Their children later gave them six grandchildren: Kari, Paige, Kyle, Erin, Cora and Leah who then went on to give them 14 great-grandchildren: Mikael, Trinity, Vann, Nicholas, William, Carter, Taryn, Sam, Chloe, Annika, Wyatt, Asher, Charlotte and Audrey. In 2005, June passed away after 57 years of marriage. Russell was a family man who loved spending time with his grandchildren, attending any of their sporting events, and found joy in making them smile. We all knew he loved us and not because he said it but, because he showed it in all the things he did for us. He found great joy in sports. For every sport there was a season and every season there was a sport. If there weren’t sports playing on his TV, he was listening to them on the radio or reading about them in the paper. He enjoyed being outdoors. From tending to his lawn and garden to soaking up the sun and fresh air, you could find him sitting out back on any given day. He also took pleasure in wood working. He could spend hours in his shop working on new projects. He especially enjoyed making bird houses and watching the many birds they would bring to his back yard. He will forever be cherished by his family and honored for his service to our country. He was a hard worker and a caring, smart and strong leader. He had a good sense of humor and his smile could light up a room. He was quite simply the best and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Russell was preceded in death by parents Ida and Anton, wife June, brother Walter, and granddaughter Kari. The family would like to thank all of his doctors, nurses, and caregivers at the Minneapolis VA. He always spoke so highly of his care there throughout the years.