Marion Lavonne Olson, the eldest child of Edwin and Gladys (Toso) Olson was born May 27, 1935 in the rural Isabel Township, Benson County, North Dakota home of her parents.  She died at the age of 80 years on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at Valley Eldercare Center-Valley Transitions in Grand Forks, North Dakota with family at her side.

Marion attended school in Isabel through 5^th grade and completed her schooling in Maddock.  She lived in Maddock until 1958, moved to Stanley until 1960 then settled and made her home in Rugby.  In October 2014, she broke her hip and after her recovery decided to move to Grand Forks.  In Grand Forks, she was a resident of Parkwood Senior Living and briefly Maple View Memory Care.

Marion worked out of her home in Rugby for Lake Region Transport for 15 years, helping her dad take orders for fuel deliveries and also worked at the Rugby Livestock Café for nine years in the kitchen as a dishwasher.  She was a member and avid volunteer at First Lutheran Church in Rugby, helping serve and clean up at many church functions.  One of her favorite sayings was, “I ain’t scared of no dish!” This was one of many funny phrases we will remember her by.  She was a favorite Aunt to her many nieces and nephews who affectionately called her ‘Auntie Mimi’.  She spent many hours babysitting them and entertaining them with games of Old Maid, kick the can and playing songs on her Fun Machine organ, one of her prized possessions.  Marion loved old time music and could often be heard humming her favorite tune and tapping her fingers to the music.  She loved to visit and have coffee with family and friends, often making a daily walk to the coffee shop in Rugby.  During her walks uptown, Marion also enjoyed stopping in stores to look at all of the ‘pretty’ things that she would buy to decorate her home.

Marion enjoyed staying busy.  She was an early riser who was always known to get up, make her bed and get right to work, often having clean clothes on the line outside before most people were even awake!  She loved to bake, especially cookies and once made 300 cookies to take and share at a family reunion.  She had many interest and hobbies, most notably putting together puzzles, word search puzzle books, playing rummy and latch hook.  Several of her family and friends were also recipients of her famous painted dish towels.  Marion was a special member of the Olson family and will be missed by many.

She is survived by her brother, Duane (Shirley) Olson of Rugby; sister, Connie Morris and brother, Terry (Diane) Olson, all of Grand Forks; 5 nieces; 2 nephews; 8 great-nieces; 7 great-nephews; 3 great-great nieces; 2 great-great nephews; other relatives and friends.  She was preceded in death by a brother-in-law, Jim Morris and her parents.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, April 9^th at the First Lutheran Church in Rugby with burial in the Persilla Watts Cemetery, Rugby.  Pastor Mike Pretzer, officiating.

Visitation will be from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Friday with a prayer service and sharing of memories beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Anderson Funeral Home in Rugby.  Visitation will continue one hour prior to the time of services at the church on Saturday.