Margaret Olson

Margaret Lucille Olson of Marshalltown, died just five days before her 102nd birthday on Thursday, March 28, 2013 at the Villa Del Sol where she has resided since October, 2010. Her death came peacefully under the loving care of the Villa del Sol and Iowa River Hospice Home.Funeral services will be held on April 1, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at Stavanger Friends Church with Pastor Jim Bonser officiating. Visitation will be held one-hour prior to services from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m. Interment will be in the Stavanger Cemetery. Memorials may be directed towards the Iowa River Hospice Home or to the Stavanger Church. Mitchell Family Funeral Home is caring for Margaret and her family. Phone 641-844-1234.Margaret was born April 2, 1911 to Hiram and Jennie Anderson Medhus near Gilman, Iowa. Her mother died of diabetes when she was 11 months old. She and her older sister lived with their paternal grandparents until Margaret was five years old. At that time Hiram married Carla Jacobson and the family was reunited.Margaret graduated from Gilman High School in 1929 and married Carl Olson in 1933. They farmed in the Dunbar-Gilman area, surviving the difficult years of the depression and drought. Margaret loved being a farm wife and worked side by side with Carl. She was a devoted mother to two daughters and enjoyed gardening, sewing and needlework, reading, playing cards, dancing and bird watching. Her love of flowers continued from childhood into her adult life and she usually had a fresh bouquet from her flower garden on the table. She also raised a wide variety of vegetables and filled the cellar with canned goods for the winter. She was known for hosting big family dinners and planning unique birthday parties for her five grandchildren. Yearly fishing trips to Minnesota provided together-time, eventually for two or three carloads of family. Several years after Carls retirement, they moved to Marshalltown.Margaret was one of the charter members of the reorganized Stavanger Friends Church. She taught Sunday School, Bible School, served on many committees, helped with Christmas programs and was a long-time member of Stavanger Sewing Circle. She was proud of her Norwegian heritage and continued the tradition of making favorite Norwegian foods like kringla, lefse and kumla.Margaret is survived by her two daughters, Shirley (Norman) Egli (Marshalltown) and Delores (Robert) Berthusen (Gilman); five grandchildren, Barbara (Michael) Self of McDonough, Georgia, Joan (Gary) Bowman of Maple Grove, Minnesota, David Egli of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jeffrey Berthusen of Kansas City, Kansas and Michael (Kim) Berthusen of Ankeny, Iowa; eleven great grandchildren, one great-great granddaughter and nephews, Darrel Peterson and Ronnie Peterson. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Carl (1998), her sister Mildred (Thomas) Peterson, her nephews, Dale Peterson and Virgil Peterson, and a niece Jean Peterson Marino.