Ethybelle F. Olson

Ethylbelle Paris Olson

November 10, 1925-August 23, 2023

Preceded in death by her husband, Leonard E. Olson; son Terry L. Olson; grandson, Erik N. Olson; parents, Juanita and Clayton Paris; and stepfather, Lyle Vice.

Ethyl is survived by her son and his wife, Chris and Kathy Olson of Omaha, Nebraska; grandson and his wife, Jeremey and Thien Olson of Omaha; sister-in-law, Mary K. Olson of Wayland, Iowa; and caring cousins and friends.

Ethyl was born in Linton, Indiana, as an only child. When she was 2 years old, her family moved to Peoria, Illinois, where she grew up. She graduated from Manual High School in Peoria in 1943. She attended and graduated St. Francis School of Nursing in Peoria in 1946, as a registered nurse.

On May 4, 1947, she married Leonard E. Olson of Galesburg, Illinois, at the First Presbyterian Church in Galesburg. They had two sons, Chris and Terry, who grew up in Galesburg.

Ethyl practiced nursing for more than 40 years at St. Mary’s Hospital in Galesburg, where she worked as Director of Nursing Services and later as the hospital’s Director of Infection Control.

After retiring in 1990, she and her husband moved to live in San Antonio, Texas, and traveled throughout the United States and Canada.

In 2004, the couple moved to Omaha, Nebraska, to be close to their sons and their families. Her husband of 58 years died in 2005, followed by their younger son the same year and their grandson the following year.

A child of “The Greatest Generation,” who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II in the 1940s, Ethyl, who expressed a reserved personality, always maintained that the most important things in her life were her family and dedication to her nursing career.

BURIAL: At Ethyl’s request, no formal funeral services are planned. A private graveside remembrance will be held in the near future and by any who visit her gravesite beside her husband and son at Memorial Park Cemetery at 2368 West Main Street in Galesburg, Ill. Prayers are requested in lieu of memorials.