Marilyn Olsen

Visitation for Marilyn A. Olsen, 88, of Kankakee, will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Clancy-Gernon Funeral Home in Bourbonnais. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Teresa Catholic Church.Burial will be in All Saints Cemetery, Bourbonnais. Memorials may be made to Aquinas Catholic Academy, Provena St. Mary's Hospital, or to Bishop McNamara Catholic High School. She died Monday (March 9, 2009) at the Miller Center.Mrs. Olsen had been a first grade teacher at St. Teresa Grade School for 15 years and the director of Lisieux Pastoral Center for five years. She was born Sept. 1, 1920, in Morris, the daughter of Edward and Marquita Berner Garrity. Her husband, Herman B. Olsen Jr., whom she married June 22, 1941, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Morris, died March 3, 2002. She received her education at St. Angela Academy, Morris High School, Northern Illinois University and a bachelor of science degree from Governors State University. She was a volunteer at Bishop McNamara Catholic High School, Provena St. Mary's Hospital, and a reading tutor for neighborhood children and children of St. Martin's School. She was a member of St. Teresa Catholic Church, where she was named CCW Woman of the Year, a Eucharistic Minister, reader and CCD teacher.Surviving are five daughters and four sons-in-law, Marquita and Charles Carmouche of Houston, Texas, Nancy Olsen of Denver, Colo., Paula and Bruce Hodak of Lexington, N.C., Chris and Larry Hodak of Chicago, Beth and Karl Provost of Kankakee; 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Lucy Novotne and Mary June Enger of Morris.Deceased are her parents; stepmother, Ethel Garrity; and one sister, Sister M. Yvonne Garrity, CSC.Marilyn had many loves but most of all she loved to play bridge and the infamous "Grandma's Game" with her family and friends. She enjoyed ballroom dancing with her husband, Herman. Marilyn loved to camp with her family at Warren Dunes, Mich. and many different sites throughout the United States. She loved to remodel her home and was dedicated to the upper Riverview neighborhood. Parties in her home would include self-made floral arrangements, her sister Yvonne playing the piano during the musical hat game and her ever present "can of fun." She was passionate in teaching her many first-grade students to read and was extremely active in her parish.

Marilyn Olsen

September 1, 1920 - March 9, 2009