Helen Olson

Helen Olson, 90, of Oshkosh went home to be with the Lord early Sunday morning, November 8, 2015 at the Regional West Garden County Nursing Home in Oshkosh.

Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, November 12, 2015 at the Oshkosh Wesleyan Church with Dennis Miller, Jr. officiating. Burial will follow in the Oshkosh City Cemetery.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Holechek Funeral Home in Oshkosh.

Memorials may be sent to the Garden County Health Services Foundation in care of the Nursing Home or the Oshkosh Wesleyan Church or to the donor’s choice.

Holechek Funeral Home in Oshkosh is supporting the family with arrangements.

Helen Virginia (Kirk) Olson was born October 6, 1925 near Broadwater, Nebraska to Harley and Mary (Watkins) Kirk, one of 10 children. Helen graduated from Bayard High School in 1943 when she met Doug Olson of Crawford who was working for the Civilian Conservation Core in the Minatare/ Bridgeport area. Their relationship blossomed into a marriage that lasted for 58 years until Doug’s passing in 2001.

Doug and Helen were married in Louisville, KY on September 4, 1943 after enlisting in the Army and waiting to be deployed to Europe during WWII. While in Kentucky, Helen worked in a munitions depot and then returned to Bayard with baby Doug (1944) to live with her parents awaiting Doug’s return.

Doug and Helen worked on the Ed Lund farm in Morrill, Nebraska during the late 1940s. The Olson family grew with the addition of Diane (1946) and Linda (1947). The Olson’s moved southwest of Gering to a farm owned by Jack Emery of Scottsbluff until the farm was sold in 1958. Steven (1952) and Timothy (1954) were born while living south of Gering. Helen’s twelve-year-old brother Roger Kirk came to live with the family after the death of their parents. Doug, Helen and family moved to Ambrosia Lake, New Mexico where Doug worked in the uranium mines. After Doug’s brother Lee Merton was killed in the mines, the family moved back to Nebraska.

The Olson family eventually moved to Oshkosh in 1963 after living on the Bill Dailey place and the Hagenmeister farm in Lisco, Nebraska. Doug began work with the Conoco station in 1963, then the S&S Texaco from 1968 – 1972. Helen worked at Midwec in the test laboratory from 1961 – 1972 when she began working with Doug at the station until his passing in 2001. Skelley’s gas station was purchased by the Olson’s in 1974 and became Doug’s Texaco and Grocery until 1987 when their son Tim and his wife, Lana Olson purchased the station.

Helen was actively involved in many civic organizations in Oshkosh beginning in 1960. She was recognized as a civic leader by Governor Tiemann in 1967 and was given the Admiral of the Navy for the State of Nebraska Award for her active interest in the Boy Scout program, church work, promotion of culture, President of the Oshkosh Women’s Club, Heart Fund County Chairman, a 4-H leader and other volunteer community services. Helen was “always ready to lend a helping hand”. She was selected by the Girl Scouts as an outstanding example of womanhood and was made an honorary adult Girl Scout who lived the principles outlined in the National Girl Scout Laws.

A member of the Oshkosh Wesleyan Church for over 50 years, she taught Sunday school, organized the Christian Youth Crusaders (CYC) in 1967 and served on the Board of Trustees in 1986. One of her greatest passions with the Garden County Garden Club where Helen was a member for 43 years. She was a yearly contributor to the Garden County Fair where she won many ribbons for her flower arrangements and for her baking. Doug and Helen raised quail for Nebraska Game and Parks yearly beginning in 1974. Helen was able to make two trip to Germany with her son Doug to see the battlefields her husband, Doug, served on in WWII.

After Doug’s death in 2001, Helen continued to live south of Oshkosh until 2011 in the house Doug built for their 25th wedding anniversary in 1968. In 2011, Helen moved to the Mesa View Apts. And lived there until February 2015.

Helen’s faith in God was central to her life. Her faith allowed her to be a rock of strength held until her passing. Anyone who graced Helen’s doorway was welcomed and made to feel as though they were part of the family. Besides loving to tend to her flowers, Helen enjoyed cooking, sewing, and quilting.

In eternal life, Helen joins her husband, Doug, parents, brothers, Howard Dale, Hubert, John, and Robert, sisters, Victoria, Daisy, and Charlene.

Left to celebrate her life are the five children, Doug (Rosa) Olson of Douglas, WY, Diane (Jim) Ostermeyer of North Platte, NE, Linda (Scott) Hidalgo of Erie, CO, Steve Olson and Cara Olson of Oshkosh, Tim (Lana) Olson of Oshkosh, brothers, Roger (Gwen) Kirk of Stevensville, MT, and Charles (Sarah) Kirk of Cheyenne, WY. Special nephew, Rusty (Sonny) of Piedmont, OK, Seventeen grandchildren, thirty-seven great grandchildren, two great- great- grandchildren, and many special nieces and nephews who considered the Olson home the place for family celebrations.