Rodney Theodore Olson

GARNER - Rodney T. Olson, 59, of Garner died Tuesday (July 19, 2011) at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City.

Funeral services will be held 10:30 A.M., Friday, July 22nd at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Garner with Rev. Dale Glawatz officiating. Burial will be in Concord Township Cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 P.M., Thursday at the Cataldo Funeral Chapel, 160 E. 4th St., Garner and will continue one hour prior to services at the church.

Memorials may be directed to St. Paul Lutheran Church or Hospice of North Iowa.

Rodney Theodore Olson, son of Theodore and Helen (Helland) Olson was born in Forest City on January 24, 1952. He was the youngest of five siblings. Rod graduated from Thompson High School in 1970 and later attended NIACC. In 1971 Rod was married to Julie Westcott, and to that union a son, Nicholas was born; they later divorced. In 1985 he was married to Donna (Heyer) Birkey. To that union, two daughters were born, Tamara and Trina. They later divorced. On November 2, 2002, Rod was united in marriage to Karen (Swalve) Olson, also of Garner. He has lived in Garner since 1984. Rod was a member of the St. Paul Lutheran Church and had been employed at IMT for the last 15 years. Rod was a very loving person with a great personality, who cared a lot about his family and friends. He loved building and flying model airplanes and helicopters. A few of his interests were playing the guitar, camping, boating, enjoying time with family and friends, and his dog Muffy. He also adored his three grandchildren, Rylie, Grace, and Grant.

Rod is survived by his wife Karen of Garner; son, Nick Olson of Minneapolis; two daughters, Tamara and Trina Olson, both of Glenwood; three step-children, Heather (Nate) Klemm of Ixonia, WI, Melanie (Steve) Thorne of Oconomowoc, WI, and Josh (Vanessa) Swalve of Watertown, WI; one grandchild, Rylie Simpson of Glenwood; two step-grandchildren, Grace and Grant Klemm of Ixonia, WI; his mother, Helen Olson of Thompson; a brother, Harlan (Jo) Olson of Buchanan, TN; three sisters, Janice Mathenia of Paris, TN, Sandy Peterson of Thompson and Evonne (Doug) Kouba of Leon, IA; many nieces and nephews; his mother-in-law, LaVina Bakken of Garner; and two brothers-in-law, Jim (Cheryl) Bakken of Forest City and Steven (Laurie) Bakken of Faribault, MN.

Rod was preceded in death by his father, Ted Olson; father-in-law, Carrol Bakken; brother-in-law, Wylie Mathenia; a nephew, Keven Peterson; and a great nephew, Carl Gergen.