Eleanor Olsson

Eleanor Olsson passed peacefully Tuesday, August 29, 2023, with her two sisters and youngest daughter present. She had been a resident of Appledorn South for just over a year at the time of her passing. Eleanor enjoyed hosting family holidays and other events, she was a great cook, but most of all, Eleanor’s kitchen was best known for its desserts! Her creations were seen at many a celebration. Everything from sugared pecans (much like the kind in the mall at Christmas) to more elaborate recipes like an “Igloo Cake” “Cake Roll” or a “Grasshopper Pie”. Her presented desserts were much like her, simple, yet complicated, elegant, and unpretentious. Eleanor was a very independent woman who was always up for an adventure! Her older children provided a trip to Europe and other vacation opportunities. In recent years, she enjoyed taking many small day trips with her youngest daughter; everything from a cross-country trip to a vigorous hike along a woodland trail to a picnic in a tranquil park. They logged many hours and parks and other adventures together. She was a steady individual, who had a love of reading, crossword, sudoku, and other puzzles. This love of puzzles and people is what led to a very long and successful career (30 years) with H&R Block. What makes the latter remarkable is, she started preparing taxes at age 60 and finally laid her pencil down at age 90! During the span of her life, she was active in various local women’s Bible studies, the Women’s Literary Guild, the Allegan County Republicans, and the John Birch Society to name a few. Eleanor knew how to ask powerful questions in her charming and disarming way. Questions that would make the seasoned politicians stumble on their words, trying to find an answer that would fit the “politi-speak” bill. She wrote multiple letters to the editor and to her congressmen and other elected officials, once again, in a polite yet powerful manner. Eleanor was preceded in death by her husband James F. Olsson of 61 years in April of 2018. She is survived by her four children, and two grandchildren Carol (Olsson) Scarr of Cincinnati, Ohio, James (Annette) Olsson of Cheboygan, Michigan, Kurt (Ronda) Olsson and their two children, Tristan and Kathryn, of Georgetown, Texas, & Lynn Olsson of Holland. Known also as “the Mothership”, Eleanor was a remarkable woman who will be missed greatly by her family, and politicians everywhere as she gave them a run for their money, and all who had the privilege to know her! A graveside service will take place in Pilgrim Home Cemetery at 12:00 pm on Friday, September 1, 2023. The family is being served by Langeland-Sterenberg Funeral Home. www.langelandsterenberg.com.

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Eleanor Olsson

May 19, 1931 - August 29, 2023