Janet Lynn Olsonawski

Janet Olsonawski, 76, of Hallock, Minnesota passed away at her home on Friday, February 27, 2026.

Janet Lynn Reed was born February 5, 1950, in Chicago, Illinois to Wayne and Marian (Jenkins) Reed. At the age of two her family moved to Wisconsin where her father had been raised settling on a farm near Bloomington, Wisconsin. Janet started to milk cows at the age of four and was active in 4-H and church during her youth.

Janet started country school in Blooming and when she reached the 7th grade attended school in Westby, Wisconsin, graduating in 1968. In June of 1968, she went on to attend Humboldt Institute in Minneapolis, MN to study airline ticketing. Janet met her future husband, Larry, at school.

In 1970 her mother, Marian, passed away and Janet moved home to help her dad and care for her sisters who were still in school. While helping at home she worked at the hospital in Viroqua, Wisconsin. On July 9, 1971, Janet and Larry were united in marriage and moved to Hallock where they farmed by the Red River. Her favorite jobs were combining and roto-beating sugar beets. In 1974 they were blessed with a baby boy, Tad Nicholas Olsonawski. Janet and Larry also sponsored an exchange student from Switzerland in 1991.

The couple moved into Hallock in 1997 and won the Farm Family of the Year award in 1998. Janet was an active member of the Hallock Lions Club and served as district secretary for a year and club secretary for many years. She won the Helen Keller and Melvin Jones Awards for her active membership. Janet was secretary of St. Patrick's Church and a Sunday school and confirmation teacher for many years.

Family members include her husband of 54 years, Larry; son, Tad (Natasha); grandsons, Cooper, Briley, and Ryder; sisters, Vicky (James) Wieman, Sparta, WI, Pat Evanson and companion, Wayne McCathen, Galesville, WI, Julie (Paul) Clars, Cashton, WI, Teresa (Mitch) Williams, LaFarge, WI, Cora (Myron) Jothen, Westby, WI; a brother-in-law, Jeff Kopp, Menominee, WI; as well as nieces and nephews. She was preceded by her parents; Wayne and Marian; a brother, Dale Reed; and a sister, Carol Kopp.

Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled for Friday, March 6, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. in St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Hallock. Interment will be in Greenwood Cemetery, Hallock. Visitation will be held at Austin Funeral Chapel in Hallock on Thursday evening from 5 to 7 p.m. with a prayer service at 6:00 p.m. Fr. Maschio Mascarenghas, presiding; St. Patrick's Choir and Sharlene Klegstad, organist. Honorary pallbearers will be Cooper, Briley and Ryder Olsonawski, Michael Olsonawski, Wayne McCathen and Chad Clark.

Memorials are prefered to Kittson County Hospice or Greenwood Cemetery, Hallock.

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