Published in Pilot Tribune on 11 September 2007

Herman native Violette A. Olafson, 89, of Lyons, died Friday, Sept. 7, 2007, at the Hillcrest Care Center in Laurel.

Services are 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Lyons. Interment is in the Lyons Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 1 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11, at the Pelan Funeral Home in Lyons. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. and a prayer service is slated for 7 p.m. Visitation is also planned at the church Wednesday, one hour prior to services.

Violette Adeline Olafson was born June 10, 1918, in Herman, to William Jennings Bryan and Hulda Dorothy Jespersen (Jensen).

She attended school in Herman through the eighth grade and graduated from Blair High School. She was confirmed at Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Omaha.

During the war, she worked in Omaha at a manufacturing plant making land mines. She later moved to Walthill with her father.

On Feb. 6, 1950, she married Willard Harry Olafson at Pipestone, Minn. They farmed in Walthill for several years.

In 1952, they moved to Macy, where they continued farming and owned and operated a cafe and grocery store until 1972, when they retired and moved to Lyons. Mrs. Olafson was employed at the Lyons Mini Mart for six years. Her husband died in 1990.

Mr. Olafson then began a dedication to volunteerism which became a passion in her last years. She volunteered at Happy Days Senior Center, Logan Valley Manor and the Robert Klase VFW Post No. 7998 Auxiliary. She was honored for volunteering in her community by receiving the Good Neighbor Award.

She was an active member of the Bethany Lutheran Curch in Lyons and the Robert Klase VFW Post No. 7998 Auxiliary.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Taryn and Gary Wiemers of Dixon; three grandsons; and six great-granddaughters.

Memorials are suggested to the Robert Klase VFW No. 7998 Auxiliary, Happy Days Senior Center and Logan Valley Manor.