OLAFUR (OLIE) HERBERT BJORNSON

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OLAFUR (OLIE) HERBERT BJORNSON Suddenly on June 26, 2010, our dear father and grandfather passed away in Selkirk General Hospital at the age of 74 years. He is survived by his loving wife of 48 years, Betty; daughters Kim (Darrin) and sons, Jordan, Avery and Bryce; Lynn (Wayne) and daughters, Taylor, Jessica and Kamryn; and LoraLee, fiancé Mike and children, Emily, Cody and Jennifer; and his little friend, Sophie, as well as many other family members and friends. He was predeceased by his parents, Sigurbjorn and Rose Bjornson; his wife's parents, Henry and Mary Mason, his sister-in-law June Bjornson and brother-in-law Wally Wensel. Olie was born in Winnipeg in good family friend Olie Olson's bed. He grew up in the city and was nine years old when he got to hand out the Extra announcing the end of the Second World War on the corner of Portage and Main. He developed a love of country life spending summers working on his Uncle Paul's farm. He married Bessie Mary-Anne Emily Mason on June 30, 1962 and using her initials, had her wedding ring inscribed, Be Mine Ever More . And she was. Because Dad worked for MTS, Kim and Lynn were born in Beausejour, and LoraLee was born in Steinbach after they moved to Oak Crescent. They had many good times and made some very good friends there, but Dad's love of country living had them moving out to Pansy. There he had his hobby farm with cattle smarter than any fence, enough geese, chickens and ducks to fatten all the foxes within ten country miles and more horses than he could count. Most of the best memories of our lives come from that time. After his bout with cancer, Dad took over the cooking, much to Mom's joy and relief. Dad was a fantastic cook. With his recipes for Vermicelli ala' Ole and his homemade macaroni and cheese, he regained all the weight the chemo and radiation had taken off. NO ONE - and we have all tried will ever make spaghetti sauce like Grampa! Dad was a self-taught electrician and liked to do any home repairs he could. I'm not sure this is a measure of his abilities, but, as young children, we learned an awful lot of swear words when we were helping Dad. Olie had a brilliant mind which made him a master at crossword puzzles, Trivial Pursuit and telling jokes. When he met a kindred spirit he could go on for hours and we have many great memories of sitting just out of sight and listening to my Dad and Pop Mason trading jokes until the wee hours. If we ever had any type of question about anything at all under the sun, we all went to Grampa. He knew EVERYTHING! He didn't just think he, he really DID! Olie's first real job was working for MTS. He started at 17 and retired happily 38 years later at 55 years old. While waiting for Mom to retire, Grampa amused himself by babysitting his first grandson, Jordan and then by helping us all out as the other eight very quickly arrived. Seeing no way out of this caregiver role other than escape, Grama moved Grampa out to Winnipeg Beach. From there they decided to become snow birds and spent the last ten winters going to Texas where Dad golfed and Mom shopped and they made many more good friends and memories. On that Saturday night, knowing his family was together and safe, Dad's huge, loving heart just stopped. We will remember him with love, appreciation and respect, and miss him always. A celebration of Olie's life will be held Saturday, July 10 at the home of Kim and Darrin, #39042 Loewen Blvd. at 2:00 p.m. Donations may be made to CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, 1109 675 McDermot Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3E 0V9. Arrangements by Birchwood Funeral Chapel 1-204-346-1030 or 1-888-454-1030

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As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 03, 2010