Obituary of Normand Oleson

Normand Elmer Oleson was born April 4, 1923 to Elmer and Edna Oleson at Webb, IA, and attended primary school years in Webb. His father was a rural mail carrier at Webb. Normand moved with his family to Milford in 1930, attended school in Milford and graduated high school in 1941. Normand married his high school sweetheart, Ruth Marilyn Anderson on June 1, 1943 and moved to Long Beach, California where he worked in defense work during the war at Cal-Shipyard where he helped construct Liberty ships that transported men and materials to the European war fronts. Later during the war he worked at Shell Oil Refinery at San Pedro, California, where he received a prestigious refinery boiler operators license. Later after the war he worked through Fuschsia-La Nursery in Long Beach doing landscape work for affluent clients in Southern California. In 1951 he and his father-in-law, Walter Anderson started A&O Liquor & Delicatessen in Artesia, California. In 1955 he expanded and built a larger very modernistic structure for this business. In 1968 he and his family moved back to Milford, Iowa and purchased a home, acreage and lakeshore property at Lake Okoboji from Ruth's Aunt that had been in the family for 108 years. During this time period, in semi retirement, Normand was a professional gunsmith. In 1971, Normand, Ruth and Don started a business called Lakes Maintenance Unlimited, doing landscape maintenance. In 1975 Normand, Ruth and Don started Iowa Great Lakes Nursery in Arnolds Park and expanded and moved the business to Spirit Lake, Iowa in 1977 having a nursery, landscape garden center, floral and greenhouse range. Normand and Ruth sold Iowa Great Lakes Nursery in 1990 and again semi retired. In 1993 Normand helped Ruth and Don develop a residential development at Lake Okoboji called "Greenwood Estates". Normand also helped his son Don immensely in the development of "Oleson Landscape & Design" in the lakes area. Normand loved fishing and hunting and was a master woodworker and woodcarver. Besides his wife and family Normand's passion and love for the past 40 years was the care and maintenance of his home "Leisure Oaks", 10 acre lawn and 750 oak trees. He will be dearly missed by his family. Normand passed away on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 at Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake, Iowa at eighty-four years of age. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, two sons, James Alan and his wife, Karen and Donald Scot; two grandsons, Patrick and Scott. He was preceded in death by his father and mother.