Sharon Louise Olson

Sharon Louise Olson was born on the 10th of May 1962 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and died on the 5th of August 2022 at the Pasqua Hospital in Regina, Saskatchewan at the age of 60 years due to brain and bone metastasis from breast cancer.

Survived by her parents, Roland and Lois (Orr) Olson of North Weyburn; Her siblings: Cathie Olson and Vern Cassel; Wilfred and Laura (Fleming) Olson; Marjorie Olson and Jeremy Mather; Bernard and Debbie (Gray) Olson; Conrad and Daphne (Chien) Olson; Stephanie and Dan Canfield; Sharon is also survived by her seventeen nieces and nephews and thirteen (+1) great nieces and nephews. Sharon was predeceased by her maternal grandparents, Wilfred and Pearl (Perry) Orr; her paternal grandparents, Robert and Martha (Linder) Olson and her brother-in-law Walter Ridgway.

Sharon was the fifth of seven blonde children, but her hair was so blonde it was almost white. Imaging Mom’s outrage when someone suggested that Sharon’s hair was bleached to be that blonde. One day when we were out playing, Mom noticed that, although Sharon had gotten up from her nap, she was nowhere to be found and a large search ensued. It turned out that Sharon had still been tired and crawled into the corner of her crib and gone to sleep innocently unaware of the fuss going on.

A few years later Mom and Dad took us in the Shasta trailer to Lloydminster where there was a singing school being put on by the congregation there. We learned to sing with shaped notes at an early age and this was the beginning. While camping in Lloydminster Sharon ran by the wood burning stove in the picnic shelter and burned her upper arm leaving a scar that stayed for the rest of her life.

Sharon was as competitive as her brothers and when Wilf and Bern went across a busy intersection to buy a birthday gift for a friend, three-year-old Sharon decided to tag along. She quickly got behind and slipped on the snow and ice ending up with her arms in the gutter under a city bus. The bus driver couldn’t see her but other drivers could and honking horns caused the bus to stop. Terrified brothers ran home to get Mom and Dad who held her in the back of the police car as she was rushed to the hospital where she spent a week. Although she suffered a broken collar bone and her hands were imprinted with the knit of her mittens, she was relatively unscathed.

After attending Haultain School in Saskatoon, Sharon moved with her family to North Weyburn where her dad taught at Western Christian College and her mom worked at the lab at Weyburn Union Hospital. While Cathie walked down the street to go to school, the rest of the siblings rode the school bus into Weyburn everyday, Wilf to the Junior High and the rest to Elgin School.

Eventually, Sharon also attended Western for grades 9-12 graduating in 1980 and a year of Junior College before moving to Saskatoon to attend the University of Saskatchewan. After two years at the university, Sharon took break to work with the church in Geneva, Switzerland where she solidified her mastery of the French language. She returned to Saskatoon where she completed her degree in education.

Sharon taught at Pleasantdale Elementary School in Estevan for four years during which she kicked her nephew, Jeremy, out of class for helping a cute little girl with answers for an assignment.

From Estevan, Sharon moved to Dauphin where she taught at the relocated Western Christian College (1991-1994). It was while she was in Dauphin that she started to understand that apples were not her friends leading to a lifelong study of food issues.

After teaching in Dauphin, Sharon returned to university to upgrade her education after which she moved to Caronport to teach at the elementary school in that community for twenty-one years teaching Core French and grades 3-8 with supportive fellow staff members. Sharon bought a house in Caronport and it was home for many years while she worshiped with the Church of Christ in Moose Jaw making many lifelong friends who were wonderful supports.

In 2017, Sharon was diagnosed with breast cancer and as it was no longer possible to teach due treatment, she went on sick leave. Chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery took their toll and in June 2020 she officially retired as a teacher. In total, Sharon was a teacher for twenty-eight years although she never stopped teaching and learning.

During her sick leave and retirement, Sharon painted and painted. She took inspiration from the satellite photos of the South Saskatchewan River on Google Maps and followed the flow past green fields and white sandbars. She hoped to supplement her pension income by selling paintings and set up a website and special FaceBook profile to promote her work. Online classes for marketing of her work and art classes provided by the University of Saskatchewan occupied hours a week as she learned new skills and techniques.

When you wondered what the light was next to the moon, Sharon knew which planet you saw. She bought a telescope so she could see further into space and find what other astronomers had discovered.

She had an amazing memory for genealogy and could keep track of the generation when John married Mary and then had children John (who married Mary) and Mary (who married John). Sharon made connection with others in our families whose interest in genealogy equalled her own.

Sharon loved to ski, travel, and watch tennis. Sunshine Village was an annual trip with her sister, Cathie and nieces, Christine, Karen, and Patricia. She even went to Switzerland with Conrad to ski when he was at university in Leuven, Belgium.

But don’t you dare tell her the scores of tennis if she hadn’t watched her recording! Asked who her favourite tennis player was elicited no answers, but we know she liked Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. She traveled to France and attended the French Open in Paris with Conrad – a dream come true. As a gift for her 60th birthday, Wilf collected money from her siblings and niblings to send her to France to go to the French Open or the Monaco Masters. She was overwhelmed with the gift and so excited to plan a trip.

Sharon sang. She sang with the chorus at Western and with the University of Saskatchewan Greystone Singers for three years. She joined a choir in Estevan and another in Dauphin and sang in church her whole life. Many have commented on how her voice added so much to any occasion.

Sharon supported several causes. True North Helping Hands combined travel with education and helping as she traveled with Patty Kunkle for several years to northern Mexico to build school rooms in small under served communities. She knew what needed to be done and how it needed to be done and if she couldn’t do it herself, she could instruct someone and get the task done. She felt that these school rooms made a difference for the children and the whole community.

After her breast cancer diagnosis, Sharon became an advocate encouraging governments to allow for earlier screening and detection of breast cancer in earlier stages. She was concerned that women didn’t know the heightened risk associated with breast density as she, herself, didn’t understand that a mammogram might not see cancer in dense breast tissue. The Canadian Task Force (none of whom are breast cancer specialists or radiologists) based testing criteria on a flawed study which led to many jurisdictions not allowing screening of women between 40 and 50 years even if they had a family history of breast cancer. With the encouragement of Jennie Dale and Dense Breasts Canada, Sharon presented to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health to allow younger women to be tested.

And Sharon loved her nieces and nephews considering carefully what to chose for Christmas gifts. Everyone got a small Swiss Army pocketknife – you know, the ones with scissors – and a Thermos travel mug that kept your coffee too hot to drink it until you reached your destination. For the last few years, each niece and nephew (niblings for the uninitiated) received a miniature painting of the North Saskatchewan River from space. Siblings received larger paintings and they hang in our homes with pride. Her painting studio has many untouched canvasses. She had more work to be done.

Illness

After contracting Covid in March of 2022, Sharon started to have symptoms of Long Covid including dizziness, facial numbness, and extreme fatigue. In addition, she suffered from extreme back and hip pain. Doing anything became a struggle and she relied on help from Mom and Dad for day-to-day chores.

When the back pain became too much to bear, her doctor in Moose Jay insisted that she go to emergency at the Regina General Hospital to investigate the pain. After 48 hours she was finally moved to the Neurosciences unit where she met with neurologists, pain medicine specialists, urologists, and neurology surgeons. Being in a double room affords very little privacy but Sharon got to know her roommate, Shelley, and they were able to share feelings and information. It was good for Sharon to have someone so close to her in age and experience.

Many tests were performed. Scans were painful as lying on a hard scan bed was difficult because of her back. Finally, just in case, the neurosurgeon, Dr. Ouattara (pr. “wha tarra”) sent her for a scan of her head. He expressed surprise when he came to tell us about the scan in which it was obvious that there was a large tumour in her front parietal lobe. Sharon, of course, wanted to see the scan, and the fine doctor took us to the screen where he zoomed through the layers of the scan and there it was, obvious even to the untrained eye. Surgery was indicated and the doctor went about trying to book a time as soon as possible.

After a brief time of mourning, Sharon began to think of the next steps and arranged with her cousin lawyer, Ruth, preparing her last will and testament and assigning power of attorney. She made lists of what would need to be done so she could go home and ways that those who offered could help.

Although the original surgeon was not available the week after the diagnosis, Dr. Dalkilik was able to take her case and quickly booked the OR for the surgery on June 28th.

Spending extra time in ICU because of the lack of beds in the neuro unit, she was waited on hand and foot by her special nurses. Recovery from the surgery was quick and complete although walking was difficult and none of the issues with her back were resolved. Sharon moved to the Pasqua Hospital and the Allan Blair Centre where cancer treatment was offered.

With Cathie and Vern available to provide medical interpretations, a family meeting July 28th with her original oncologist, Dr. Dolata, we were told that because Sharon was still experiencing issues with mobility, it was evident that the cancer had spread into the lining around the brain and spinal column. Radiation and chemotherapy would not be helpful, and we needed to think of end of life care. This was shocking news to all of us. That evening after Marj arrived and with Sharon’s full participation, a review of the goals of care with her nurse, Dean, was completed. Since no treatment for the cancer was available, a move to palliative care where only one doctor would be required to change medications to reflect Sharon’s level of pain making the process more flexible and seamless.

In the palliative care unit, Sharon enjoyed a large room where many family members could gather. Her nurse, Maria, was able to make suggestions to improve Sharon’s last days. Getting out of bed became a Herculean task involving a lift and a special reclining chair. Although she was only able to get up a couple of times it allowed us to take her to the art gallery and, briefly outside where she joined us in a laugh.

For many days, Sharon’s face would light up with a smile when someone new came to visit or when Mom and Dad arrived to sit with her. She was not left alone day or night through her stay in palliative care. As time passed, she became more and more unresponsive but the day her brother, Conrad, arrived from France she woke up and gave the best smile ever. Sharon shared that smile a couple of more times the next day but was almost totally unresponsive after that (except when Marj opened a chocolate bar in her hearing).

Every day, Sharon’s breathing became slower and shallower with longer and longer breaks between breaths. The last day, her breathing was rapid as her body gave up. Her family gathered and said goodbye because we knew that time was short. She left us with her Mom and Dad, sister, Marj, and brother-in-law, Jeremy at her side. We sang hymns and held her, telling her that she was in God’s hands and that she didn’t have to worry about those left behind.

Many special thanks:

to Mom and Dad for sitting for hours visiting, supporting, advising, and providing wisdom for decisions made on Sharon’s behalf;

to Wilf for being with Sharon as she dealt with the hours of waiting in emergency;

to Wilf and Laura whose home was open for sleeping, support and meals;

to Laura, Wilf, and Nic who planned meals either at hospital or home. Sometimes at the last-minute meals were brought up to the hospital depending on how Sharon was doing;

to Wilf and Laura for sitting with Sharon for hours when needed.

to Stephanie and Dan and Jensen who made many trips to spend weekends at the hospital cheering Sharon on and organizing her room.

to Marj who spent weeks in Regina at Sharon’s bedside getting some work done at the Regina office and in Sharon’s room.

to Conrad for traveling so far and to Conrad and Bern for turns taking night shifts towards the end and making Sharon smile.

to Cathie and Vern for their medical expertise which helped making decisions easier as they documented the medical care provided while they stayed with Sharon.

to Debbie for growing amazing flowers to grace Sharon’s room and for bringing amazing food.

What a blessing to have many siblings so that special care and attention could be lavished on Sharon during the difficult last months.

So many of Sharon’s nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews were able to visit while Sharon was in the hospital. She was so grateful for every visit. Thank you so much for making her life brighter.

To many members of Sharon’s community who supported her during her illness providing cheer and encouragement; for those who volunteered to share in her care; for meals and flowers; our hearts are full. Thank you.