Geraldine "Gerie" Olson

Born in December 1945 to Joseph Olaf and Jeffie Mae Christian of Coalinga, CA.

A resident of Tucson, Arizona since 1987 with her Husband Kenneth Olson; children, Kindra Reesman Byford; Kevin McCoy; Angela Udelhoven; stepchildren Troy McCoy; Penny Worley; Kristine McCoy; Scott Robley and Carla McCoy; Siblings, Thomas Christian; Jonel Reesman and David Christian.

Gerie was a retired Grocery Checker, Business Owner and Saleswoman in Alaska, New Mexico and Oregon.

A talented woman, She was a self-taught Artist, Gemologist and Jeweler. She loved to laugh and brightened up the room with her interests. A lady always she was never without her “Face” on and immaculately dressed. Taking great care to always appear at her best. Her spirit was always ready to do anything she chose to do camping, fishing, taking cruises, shopping.

Serious health issues from a young age slowed her ambitions but most who knew her did not know about her problems since she rarely complained about them. It was a source in slowing her down in her pursuits, but never stopped her cheerful attitude. The greatest name she wore were “Grandma and Mom’ to her family and 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. And to all she was all that.

Kipling wrote that “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made Mothers!” That statement was perfect for Gerie. She loved all her family with a passion that inspired the family and many others with the fire of love for her loved ones and extended family of nieces and nephews, co-workers and friends of her children that adopted her as their own mother. She always had time to help solve problems or lend a sympathic ear to woes and give motherly advice.

Nothing made her as happy as being with the children and grandchildren listening to them sing or be on stage or at a sporting event they were in with her adoring husband.

She will be missed by how she lived life to the best of her abilities. Her zest and love for life will always be a source of inspiration to all who knew her and loved her. Forever in our hearts and souls till we join her in the perfect place beyond. Gerie, our Angel, will be with us always.

How does one sum up the life of such an amazing person? How can you describe the feeling of her embrace or the tone of her voice when she tells us she loves us? An impossible feat. The only way to understand her was to know her. Gerie was a Mother, Grandmother and a Great-Grandmother of the highest caliber. She was a wife, sister, an aunt and a friend without equal. Nothing to her was ever good enough, nothing could ever be left as is. Just looking around her home you can see how she put her own spin on everything she touched. Paintings, figures, clothing…. She loved to create and improve. In this, she was a master of her craft. Nothing shows this better than his family, the family she built brick by brick. Who but a master could bring such a complex, diverse group of people together? Who but she could build a tree out of so many broken branches?

She brought us together, sometimes plucking us from the masses, binding us with our love for her, for one another. She taught us to enjoy life, to cherish what matters most. She taught us what it was to be family. Gerie was a selfless person to the core. Always thinking of others, always thinking of family and putting their needs above her own. Never once complaining even as she grew sick. But she would not want us to think of her passing. She would scold us should we spend all of our time grieving her loss since she refused to be an inconvenience for others. So let us remember he as she was. Remember all the smiles, the laughs. Remember the happiness and the joy she shared with us. Most of all, remember how she touched your lives.