Lois Bernice Olson Koelliker

Lois Bernice Olson Koelliker 1916 ~ 2009 Lois Bernice Olson Koelliker, loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, devoted church member, caring neighbor and wonderful friend, peacefully passed away April 16, 2009 at home with children and loved ones nearby. Ever true to her pattern of love and strong constitution, Mother bid a tender and gracious farewell to each of her children and grandchildren before leaving mortality for a better place of peace. Mother entered this life on December 3, 1916, in the small community of Ucon near Idaho Falls, Idaho. She was the fourth of ten children (eight girls and two boys) born to Nina Yeates and Niels Orson Olson. Six of her siblings (Elda Bormann, Clotele Thomas, Marjorie Bingham, Sybil Phillips, Gerald, and Cleon) preceded her back to our heavenly home where they greeted her along with her faithful parents. Three of her sisters, Nina Joy Holman (Garth), Betty Rae Stucki (Delos), Sharyn June Johnson (Kim), and brother-in-law Grant Thomas remain with us, as a legacy to the spreading posterity of this caring and loving Olson family. Mother grew up in Idaho until at age 21 she was called to serve as a missionary in the Northern States Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon her return home and at the invitation of her older sister, Elda, she traveled to California where she met our dad, Edward Conrad Koelliker. After three short months of courting, they were married and sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple on February 6, 1942. Five children were born to this heaven made companionship: Paul Edward (Ann), Karen Lois Lubeck (Bruce), Janet Kay Allan (Brent), Mark Conrad (Colleen), and Cheryl Marie Hill (Greg). How grateful we each are for her gift of teaching and for our dear mother's love for and testimony of Jesus Christ, exemplified especially as she devoted her life to our growth and improvement. We will be forever influenced by her enduring love to our dad, who went on ahead in March of 1996 to help prepare a place for her. Mother is the grandmother of 25 and great grandmother to 42. Each one holds a special love for their Great Grandma K. One was heard to say as she saw her mother shed a tear in Grandma's final moments, "I have a tear in my eye too." We all love you Mom and will miss your ever steady hand but are grateful to know where you are and that we will see you again. Funeral services will be Wednesday, April 22, at 12 noon at Parleys Third Ward, 2615 E. Stringham Ave, Salt Lake City. Friends may call at Larkin Mortuary, 260 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City, on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Wednesday at the Ward Chapel from 10:15 to 11:45 a.m. Interment, Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, 3401 S. Highland Drive, Salt Lake City. The family wishes to express their thanks to all of those who gave such loving care, service, and friendship to Lois. Online condolences can be sent to www.larkincares.com