Barbara Munn Olsson

Barbara Munn Olsson, age 87, was born December 16,1938 at Middlesex Hospital to Damase and Florence (Knowlton) Munn of Portland, CT. She was a graduate of Portland High School in 1956 and the University of Maine, Orono, where she graduated with a degree in Sociology in 1960.

Barbara loved to travel, see the world, meet new people and taste local foods. This love began at an early age when she spent years moving across the USA with her family due to her father’s job with Pratt & Whitney. As an adult, she enjoyed traveling with girlfriends to Russia, the British Isles, and other countries, as well as camping and touring with her family around Italy, Scotland, Sweden and the western European countries. Upon retiring, she and her husband, John, spent 20 years traveling around North America in an RV. They attended and hosted RV musters with SMART and had numerous adventures touring in their RV with friends. Barbara loved cruising - whether the big boats in the Caribbean, the smaller cruises in Alaska, or her favorite– the river cruises of Europe.

She was very creative and supported the performing arts. She enjoyed music and playing the piano. She sang in several choirs throughout her life from the Holy Loch Singers in the 1970s to the Preston Community Chorus and St Catherine’s Church Choir throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Education and the arts were important to Barbara and she instilled these values in her children by ensuring that they both had the opportunity to go to college. She enjoyed quilting and knitting and bestowed these gifts to many friends and family members.

Barbara would try any adventure with her husband, John, from bowling leagues in Scotland, square dancing in Italy, scuba diving in New England and the Caribbean, to visiting castles and monasteries in Europe. She lived her life fully.

Barbara’s professional life reflected her compassion for people, especially children and young adults. She dedicated her career to ensuring that they had access to support, and opportunities for education and growth. Her work included roles as a social worker, parole officer, third grade teacher, special education teacher and she ended her career as a school psychologist and special education administrator in the town of Franklin, CT. Volunteering was a key theme in Barbaras’ life. In Scotland and Sardinia, she worked to establish Navy Relief offices for the families of active-duty sailors. In Connecticut, she volunteered at Navy Relief and CONTACT of Southeastern Connecticut, a crisis hotline where she spent some time as the president of this organization.

Barbara is predeceased by her parents. She leaves behind her husband and partner of 60 years, John P. Olsson Jr., her daughter, Linnea and husband, Bill, (with whom she lived in Ledyard, CT) and her son, Damase and wife, Audrey of Sutton, MA. She is also survived by her brother, Raymond Munn of Nebo, North Carolina, his wife Nancy, and her niece Kara (Dean) Dotson.

The family extends its gratitude to the Hartford Healthcare Hospice at Home program and to the caregivers who supported Barbara during her final years. Services will be announced at a later date.