Lucena June Olsen

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Tara Jo (Dooley) Pyle; parents, Herman T. Becker and Lelah Hazel Hein; and seven of her sixteen siblings, Katheryn, Robert, Herman, Donnie, and Galen Becker, Dorothy Zimmerman, and Ethel Maye Swenson.

She is survived by her husband, Robert (Bob) Olsen, children, Lisa Kay (Dooley) Jones, Kyle Wade Dooley, Talise Ann (Olsen) Chandler (Chad); ten grandchildren, Janell (Evans) Tracy, Zachary Evans (Amanda), Kiri (Decker) Riofrio (Tony), Shelby (Dooley) Hampton (Nick), Kelsey Decker, Tianna Chandler (Kellan Roth), Hannah Dooley (Parker Robinson), Ryan, Lainey, and Sawyer Chandler; eleven great-grandchildren, Annie (Evans) Hopkins (Sydney), Tyler and Alexander James “AJ” Tracy, Connor Evans, Brooke and London Riofrio, Logan and Otis Hampton, Trynitie Alvarado, Naqoa and Axxyl Decker, and one great-great-grandson, Bane Hopkins. Her nine surviving siblings are, Lois Andrews (Gerald), Merlin Becker (Wei Ping), Mary Ellen Patrick, Carolyn McCullough (Ed), Richard Becker (Barb), Larry Becker, Rita Holmberg (Ed), Linda Sehman (Ron), and Carl Becker (Janice).

Lucena (or “Cena” as most called her) was born June 8, 1939 in McPherson, Kansas and attended high school there. Much of her outgoing and spunky personality can be attributed to growing up in her large family, and she had many fond memories of her formative years in Kansas. After starting her family with her first husband, she and her three young children moved to Colorado in 1969 after her divorce. While working at Western Electric in Denver, she met the love of her life. Lucena and Bob married on January 6, 1973, had one daughter together, and relished 52 wonderful, fun-filled years together. They lived on 10 acres in Boulder County for 21 years, had horses and other animals, and planted many gardens and flower beds. They moved to Grand View Estates in Mead in 1999 and attended Venture (formerly Calvary) Church for 20 years. Through their active involvement in church and their neighborhood, they developed close friendships with whom they strengthened their faith in God and also had a lot of fun playing Canasta and dice games, hosting parties, and travelling on cruises together.

Lucena was creative, wicked-smart, hard-working, passionate, and ambitious. She was an incredibly talented woman in countless ways including art, gardening, cooking, decorating, sewing, and nurturing. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with her Associates Degree in Art from Front Range Community College in 1985 and was a partner in an art gallery in Louisville for years. She won the RTD Design the Bus Contest for the “Longmonster” Longmont buses in 2000 and celebrated the event with the mayor and other officials. In 2022, she was featured in the Mead Rotary Art Show. Her beautiful watercolor and oil paintings and colored pencil drawings grace the walls of many homes and her handmade cards and doodles are special treasures to her loved ones as well.

A life-long avid gardener, Lucena added to her expertise by earning her Master Gardener certificate and she put her knowledge to use by helping others and by creating impressive vegetable gardens and flower beds at her home. She and Bob also created fun areas for the grandchildren, especially the “hidden garden” where they cultivated trees and shrubs to arch over curving pathways graced with brightly painted benches and flower pots, fairy gardens, flowers, flamingoes, toads, fairy lights, and even a “garden monster”.

As meaningful as her artwork and gardening were to her, Lucena was most proud of her family. She was nurturing, compassionate, caring, loving, and most importantly, adored her grandchildren. “Grandma Cena or Cenie” was the ultimate grandmother. She attended hundreds of school programs, sporting events, and celebrations to support the kids and grandkids with Gpa Bob; and they hosted sleepovers, fun play days, water fights, an art camp, many tea parties, and made every holiday memorable. Grandma Cena loved to cook for the family and is well-known for making everything she touched special with her delicious meals, holiday spreads, and myriad of delectable homemade treats. Most days with grandkids included root beer floats and chocolate malts, and the candy bowls were a free-for-all. Grandma Cena was a joy to be around as she loved to play, tell stories, joke around, and laugh. She is tenderly remembered for giving the gift of her time and attention by setting aside all other concerns to visit, play games, draw, paint, read books, watch movies, and give her whole heart to her family.

The epitome of Lucena’s talent, creativity, showmanship, and love was displayed with her many formal and informal tea parties for friends and family. She studied from books the proper way to host and brew tea and shared her love of tea parties with others. She would craft hand-delivered invitations, brew several varieties of tea, set the tables with fresh-pressed linens, her best china and collection of tea cups, cut flowers, and other lovely decor. After days of baking various cookies and treats, homemade lemon curd, and making her signature cucumber sandwiches, she would don her Sunday best and hat, and share her collection of fancy tea party hats and boa scarves with her guests. Every tea included time for the guests to learn a little etiquette and to share something they admired about each other.

Lucena was an amazing, faith-filled woman who served her family with all her energy, loved the Lord with all her heart, who smiled brightly with her full face, and who will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

There will be an open house viewing at Howe Mortuary, 439 Coffman St, Longmont, Colorado on Thursday, April 24 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. The funeral service on Friday, April 25 will begin at 10:00 a.m. after a final viewing beginning at 9:00 a.m. at Venture Church, 2101 Gay Street, Longmont. All attendees are invited to wear spring colors and to bring a flower stem if they choose.