Mary Ann Olson

Mary Ann was born on June 28, 1948, to loving parents, Martin and Maxine Mueller in Pickstown, South Dakota. She was raised alongside her siblings, Don, Carolyn, Mike, and John, in Ottawa, Kansas. She loved leading her sister and friends on adventures around town after she and Carolyn would finish helping her mom with chores around the home. She enjoyed summertime evenings in their backyard having her mom’s angel food cake and homemade ice cream and always looked forward to visits with family in the small town of Lynch, Nebraska where she could go exploring with her cousins. In high school, she made money babysitting for 35 cents/hour and worked at a small local dress shop where she often spent most of her earnings! As a teenager, she was a tall, gangly beauty with a vibrant smile, a smile that the local newspaper/photographer noticed, and a photo of her in the surrounding wheatfields was the newspaper highlight one year for the start of summer (a photo that still hangs in some local stores).

After high school, Mary Ann went to Emporia State Teacher College for a short time, before marrying her high school sweetheart, Ronald West, and moving to Terre Haute, Indiana for new job opportunities. After moving back to Ottawa, a couple years later, Mary Ann began working as a telephone operator with Ma Bell Telephone Company and then transferred to the Glenwood Springs, CO office where her young family moved in the early 1970’s. She enjoyed this work and even had the chance to “talk to” some famous people (notably Sidney Pointier) while connecting their calls. Later they moved briefly to Rifle before creating a lovely home on Silt Mesa.

Mary Ann had three children – Kelly, Julie, and Ron Jr. – that she loved dearly and was loved by. Raising her children gave her great joy and fulfilment. She was often busy planning family camping trips, preparing family recipes, helping with a Boy Scout or Brownie troop, hosting birthday parties, driving them to sports practices and cheering on at their events, and helping them study for school. She loved summers filled with picnics and swimming at Harvey Gap, camping and hiking in the nearby mountains, bike rides down the gravel roads, working in her garden, picking fruit at nearby orchards, and canning jars and jars of fruits and vegetables. Later in life she was very proud that her children had loving families of their own and happily listened to updates about her grandkids’ lives and accomplishments. Visits with her family were always the highlights of her day.

Mary Ann was an exceptional baker, learning so much over the years from her mother, Maxine, and mother-in-law, Edith West. Friday night was often set aside for her homemade pizza and her cinnamon rolls showed up on Sunday mornings. She made delicious pies and cakes and even sold them to a local café to use on their menu. She always had homemade cookies ready for family and friends stopping by and she loved to drop off her baked goods at her church’s office and at the local nursing home where she had volunteered. She also loved animals and on more than one occasion, to the delight of her children, came home from a trip to the grocery store with a kitten or puppy that was being given away in town. She loved feeding the many birds, especially the doves, that visited her backyard, and always had a big can of birdseed by her door ready to fill their feeder. She had many cat and dog companions throughout her life, and in recent years she loved when her brother John visited with his golden retriever, Molly, and son Kent and family visited with their dog, Mabel.

Mary Ann married Rodney Olson in 1986 and loved expanding her family with his three children, Debbie, Laurie, and Kent. Mary Ann and Rodney shared many wonderful years together before his passing in 2019. They enjoyed taking road trips to visit family and would stop to see the sights along the way. They loved fishing together in their boat on Rifle and Harvey Gap… and when she would get tired of sitting on the boat, she’d take long walks or read along the lake shore and patiently wait while Rodney continued fishing. They also enjoyed visiting her parents in Grand Junction and many evenings were spent playing cards, bowling, or dancing at the Elks Lodge. They even took vacations together to try their luck in Las Vegas. Over the years, after working at the phone company, she continued to help support her family which included having a home daycare, working customer service at Kmart, and then working as a grocery clerk for many years at Rifle’s City Market before retiring to join Rodney in his retirement.

Mary Ann loved to laugh and make others laugh, starting when she was a young girl. She always had a joke to share and seemed to know when someone else needed a quick laugh. She had an unwavering and devout Catholic faith, instilled in her by her parents, that brought her great strength, wisdom, and comfort throughout her life. She was an active member of the St. Mary Catholic Parish in Rifle for over 40 years and had many dear friends in the church who she immensely enjoyed visiting with and praying the rosary together.

She loved giving gifts, and not just for the holidays. She shopped throughout the year for little items that she could give to family and friends who visited. She always had gift bags filled and waiting to be given out… and you often left her home with some little treasure. But for those of us still here and mourning her loss, we know the truth … that Mary Ann herself was actually the true gift… she lived and modeled a life to us filled with kindness, generosity, grace, compassion, faith, hope, and courage. She showed us how to love fully and genuinely and how to find inner strength and persevere through life’s many challenges and paths. We are eternally grateful for having had her in our lives.

Mom/Grandma/Mary Ann, you were loved as dearly and deeply as you loved us… may your sweet spirit soar high and keep a guiding hand on us.

Mary Ann is survived by her children Kelly (Malinda) West, Julie (Mark) West-Thompson, and Ronald Jr./Ron (Monique) West; stepdaughters Debbie (Shawn) Becker, Laurie (Mike) Hogan, and stepson Kent (Wendy) Olson; grandchildren (Justin, Kylee, Kody, Hendrix, Marley, Johnny, Zachary, Ella, Brisa, McKaelynn, Hilary, Marielle, James, McKenna); and great grandchildren (Johnny V, Oliver, Lliza, Zyler, Zemery, Asher, Aimsley, Nixon); siblings Don (Dixie) Christensen, Carolyn (Bob) Hutchins, Mike (Stacey) Mueller, and John Mueller; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends whom she loved dearly. Mary Ann is preceded in death by her parents, Martin and Maxine Mueller; her husband, Rodney; her children’s father, Ronald West; sister-in-law, Anne Mueller; and many beloved aunts, uncles, and other family members.

A memorial service will be held at St. Mary Catholic Church, Rifle, Colorado (761 Birch Avenue, Rifle, CO) on Saturday, September 16th, 12pm, followed by a reception in the Parish Hall.

Flowers in Mary Ann’s honor can be sent to St. Mary Catholic Church on Friday, September 15th for the memorial service and donation gifts may be made to the organization of your choice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.callahan-edfast.com for the famy of Mary Ann Olson.