Agnes Harriet Olson

Agnes Harriet Olson (nee Nordeen), age 96, passed away peacefully at Beacon Hill Health Center in Lombard, Illinois, on January 22, 2025 with family at her side.

Born at home in Chicago, Illinois on March 18, 1928, Harriet was the beloved daughter of August and Agnes Nordeen, and loving sister to her twin brother, Howard, and sisters Leona, Anita and Norma.

Harriet always had a great affinity for babies and young children. Following her graduation from Austin High School in 1946, she received training to become a practical nurse specializing in the care of infants and worked for several prominent families during the course of her career. She was a lover of country music and square dancing, and it was at a square dance that she met her husband, Herbert Olson. They were married November 19, 1955, and eventually welcomed two children, Leonard and Linda. Herbert died quite young and beginning in 1964, Harriet became the dedicated single parent to her children, supporting them by working at Marshall Fields where she was a mainstay in the baby and layette department for over twenty years.

Harriet was best known and admired by all who knew her for her sunny disposition, positivity, kindness and gentle spirit, which belied her underlying determination and strength of character. She was truly one of kind.

Harriet is survived by her devoted son, Len (Judy) Olson, her loving daughter, Linda Olson; her granddaughters Margaret (Elbek) Kurbanov, Laura Olson (Dan Ward), Anneke Olson, and Alexandra (Duke) McMenamy; great-grandchildren, William and Leo Kurbanov and Morgan McMenamy; as well as many loving nieces and nephews.

The Olson family wishes to express our profound gratitude to the nursing staff and caregivers at Beacon Hill Health Center who cared for Harriet with love, respect and compassion for almost seven years as her health gradually declined. They made sure she was surrounded by love each and every day, a gift for which we are eternally grateful.

A Celebration of Life service for Harriet will be held at 10:30 am on Friday, March 28, 2025 in the Chapel at the First Presbyterian Church of Glen Ellyn, 550 N. Main Street, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. A luncheon reception will immediately follow the service at Reserve 22, 485 Winchell Way, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Internment at Ridgewood Memorial Park in Des Plaines, Illinois will be private.