Edna Eloise Olson, 97, of Artesian, died Tuesday, June 7, 2016.
Funeral services were Friday, June 10 at First Lutheran Church in Mitchell with burial in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery at Artesian. Visitation was from 5-7 p.m. with a 7 p.m. prayer service Thursday, June 9, at the Bittner Funeral Chapel in Mitchell.
Edna was born Nov. 22, 1918, to Herman and Alma (Rink) Schefsky at Forestburg. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and was a member of First Lutheran Church in Artesian. She attended a rural school through the seventh grade and attended eighth grade and high school at Forestburg, graduating from there in 1936. Edna graduated from the Sprague Hospital School of Nursing in Huron in August of 1939 with a Registered Nursing degree.
On April 19, 1940, she was married to Victor W. Olson at the Lutheran parsonage in Hartington, Neb., by Rev. Thorson. She lived in Nampa, Idaho, and Vancouver, Wash., and for 68 years on the farm north of Artesian. Edna worked as a registered nurse in Chicago, Nampa and Vancouver and did private nursing after moving back to South Dakota. In August of 2013, she moved to Countryside Living in Mitchell.
Edna is survived by her children, Gayle (Bill) Klein of Dell Rapids, Neal (Kathy) Olson of Artesian, and Nancy (Robert) Arend of Sioux Falls; daughter-in-law, Shirley Olson of Artesian; 15 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren; two sisters-in-law, Irene Eining and Lottie Olson; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Victor, of 65 years on July 12, 2005; her son, Doyle on April 17, 2011; her parents; brother and spouse, Orville (Irene) Schefsky, and brother, Edward in infancy; seven sisters and spouses, Velma (Arden) Moore, Freida (Mark) Peterson, Amelia (Walter) Jensen, Elsie (James) Sneesby, Darlene (Al) Bauer, Pauline (Mac) Eining; and sister, Margaret, in infancy; in-laws and spouses, Orlando (Doris) Olson, Ott (Edith) Olson, Lyle Olson and Carmen Eining; two sisters-in-law, Edna M. Olson and Alice Olson, in infancy; and a niece and nephew.