Clara Olive Olsoe

Clara Olive Olsoe was born on June 22, 1924 at her family's homestead near Fortuna, North Dakota, to Andrew and Christine (Vedevig) Sather. She was born the third of eight children. The difficult drought of the `30s resulted in the family of 10 moving back to Big Fork, Minnesota in 1936. Clara attended Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in Fergus Falls, MN and graduated in 1942. After high school, she held a variety of jobs, including sewing underwear for the WWII effort in Staten Island, NY and working as a nurses aid in Big Fork. After her father unexpectedly died at the age of sixty, Clara and the rest of the Sather family relocated to Seattle, WA. One of the first people Clara met in Seattle was Edwin Olsoe, a friend of her brothers Orville and Sam. She and Edwin took a liking to each other and in 1950, "Big Ed" became Clara's husband. He was her constant companion for the next fifty-four years.

Clara was a doer and loved being a homemaker and mother to her six children: Mark, Maylene, Myron, Manley, Margit and Melinda (all born within nine years). In addition to raising her family, she also helped Ed run the family carpentry business. During what little down time remained, she took "vacations" with her family in their camper/truck combo, visiting relatives in the Midwest or camping in Washington's beautiful state parks. One of the most memorable trips for Clara was in 1965, when she and Ed traveled around the world to visit each of the Lutheran Brethren Missionaries. After this experience, her passion for the mission field became her life mission.

Clara loved her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and devoted her life to serving Him; He gave her the strength for each day and hope for the future. Also very dear to Clara was her church family at Rock of Ages Lutheran Brethren Church. Praying for family, friends, missionaries, government leaders and situations around the world both near and far was a daily priority for her.

Another great joy for Clara was welcoming 13 grandchildren into the family; she looked forward to each and every visit from them. In recent years, Clara was further blessed to see the beginnings of the family's next generation take shape. Presently, there are nine great-grandchildren born, and four more on the way.

Life became more difficult after Ed died from Parkinson's Disease in 2004. Even so, Clara enjoyed having the company of her daughter Margit, and in later years, Margit's constant care as she struggled with Alzheimer's. On June 4, 2017, at nearly 93 years of age, Clara left her earthly home to be with her Savior in her heavenly home. Blessed be the memory of Clara Olsoe. She will be missed dearly by her family and friends.

Clara was preceded in death by her husband and parents, three brothers; Art (Verdie) Sather, Orville Sather and Selmer Sather, two sisters; Geneva (Hadley) Malvig, Ruth (Gordy) Stenoien, sister-in-law Bernice Sather and brother-in-law-and sister-in-law Arnold (Greta) Olsoe. Clara is survived by three sons and three daughters-in-law, Mark (Diane Johnson) Olsoe, Myron (Karin) Olsoe and Manley (Janet) Olsoe; three daughters and two sons-in-law, Maylene (Trevor) Anderson, Margit Olsoe and Lindy (Stan) Freeman; Grandchildren Erica (Robert) Chao, Bjorn (Allison) Anderson, Tor Anderson, Karl Anderson, Kjell (Alexis) Anderson, Kristine (Scott) Christopherson, Ben Olsoe, Nicole (Nelson) Hall, Joshua (Hallie) Olsoe, Justin (Meredith) Olsoe, Jaron Olsoe, Natalie and Grant Freeman; Great Grandchildren Clara, Gunnar, Ira and Arne Anderson, Henrik, Aksel and Declan Christopherson, Soren and Anna Chao; One sister, Evie (Jim) Olson, one brother, Arvid (Virginia) Sather, two sister-in-laws, Joan Sather and Lavona Sather and numerous nieces and nephews.

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