Robert V Olsen

Mankato Mortuary
388-2202

Robert Vincent Olsen, age 89, of Mankato, died Sunday, March 27, 2011 at Immanuel St. Joseph's Hospital, Mankato.

Funeral Service will be held at 2 p.m., Friday, April 1, 2011 at Norseland Lutheran Church, rural St. Peter. Burial will be in Norseland Lutheran Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m., Thursday at Mankato Mortuary and will continue from 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m., Friday at church.

Robert Vincent Olsen was born March 9, 1922, in New Ulm, Minnesota, to Carl Rudolph and Hildur (Bjorklund) Olsen, of New Sweden Township, Nicollet County, Minnesota. He was baptized at Scandian Grove Lutheran Church at Norseland, on April 14, 1922, and confirmed at Norseland Lutheran Church. He attended District 46 grade school and graduated from St. Peter High School in 1940.

In October 1942, Robert entered the U.S. Army, and served in Europe during World War II. After the war ended in May 1945, Robert continued to serve as part of the occupation forces in the Czech Republic. He was discharged on Dec. 8, 1945.

He attended veterans' agricultural classes at Gaylord and continued to farm with his parents. On July 8, 1950, he married Shirley Swenson at Norseland Lutheran Church. They were blessed with six children, Kathryn, Dennis, Oren, Joel, Carmen and Todd. He continued the dairy and farming operation after his father's death in 1956 and in 1958, Robert was named Nicollet County's "Outstanding Young Farmer." He served on the board of Tri-County Dairy and as president and board member of the New Sweden Creamery.

He served in several church offices and activities at Norseland Lutheran Church, including treasurer, deacon, trustee, Christian Day School board and choir.

After his wife, Shirley's death in 1984, Robert continued to live on the farm. On Aug. 23, 1986, he married Phyllis Thom Mielke at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in North Mankato. They moved to Mankato in 1988 and Robert worked part-time at local grocery stores before retiring. In 2008, Robert moved to the Pathstone Living residence in Mankato.

Robert is survived by his wife, Phyllis of Mankato; children, Kathryn (Richard) Ericson of Cannon Falls, Dennis (Nancy) Olsen of St. Paul, Oren (Julie) Olsen of Nicollet, Carmen Adams of Burnsville, Todd (Ruth) Olsen of North Mankato; daughter-in-law, Sharon Olsen of St. Peter; and step-daughters, Deborah (Dennis) Holdsworth of Denison, IA, Lori (Bob) Gilmore of Mesa, AZ and Brenda Lockhart of Holladay, TN; grandchildren, Nathan (Joanna) Ericson, Katie (Tom) Otto, Wil and Ted Olsen, Mitchell (Jayme), Andrew (Bridget), Corey (Ashley) and Joshua Olsen, Ben (Samantha) and Eric Olsen, Frankie Adams, Rachel, Rebekka and Austin Olsen; great-grandchildren, Ellie and Ginny Ericson, Miranda Beaulieu, Irie, Chevelle and Josephina Olsen, and Lillian Olsen; step-grandchildren, Travis (Tina) Holdsworth, Brian (Anna) Holdsworth, Jennifer Holdsworth, Angela (Jon) Branning, Trena (Chris) Alexie, Tasha and Tara Lee Gilmore; and step-great-grandchildren, Hannah and Ethan Holdsworth, Elizabeth and Blake Holdsworth and Micah Alexie.

Besides his first wife, Shirley, Robert was preceded in death by his parents, Rudolph and Hildur; his son, Joel; his son-in-law, Mark Adams; his brother and sister-in-law, Donald and Esther (Tjernagel) Olsen; and his sisters and brothers-in-law, Dorothy and Clayton Pettipiece and Marjorie and Lauren DuVal.