Mary Lou Olson

Mary Lou (Bendon) Olson was born January 29, 1933, in Oberlin, Kansas to Leo and Esther Lillian (Hanson) Bendon, the youngest of their seven children. She passed away on Friday, December 12, 2025, at the Sheridan County Long Term Care in Hoxie, Kansas, at the age of 92.
She attended Oberlin Elementary School and graduated from Decatur Community High School in 1951. After graduation, Mary Lou went to work for the Oberlin Herald, replacing her sister Cecil's office position, as Cecil had just taken an office clerk job at the local ASCS office. Mary Lou worked for 67 years for the newspaper, retiring at the age of 85 under the ownerships of Ernest Woodward, Howard Kessinger, Randall Braden, and Steve Haynes. One year after she retired, she was asked to come back, and she worked part time for another four years to the age of 90. She became a legend of knowledge, information, and history about families and events in Decatur and Rawlins County over many generations. In the early 1960's she was asked by owner Howard Kessinger to write the Midway Achilles news column for the Oberlin and Atwood newspapers which she did until her retirement. She loved every aspect of working for the local newspaper and gave her life to writing articles, columns, and stories about her community, which she dearly loved. She was a volunteer, organizer, and integral part of the production and updating of the DCHS Alumni Directory every ten years for her entire working life.
On March 10, 1957, Mary Lou was united in marriage to Keith Olson at the Oberlin United Methodist Church. They made their home on the Olson Homestead family farm six miles south of Herndon and were blessed with three children, Mark, Rex and Julie. She grew up in town but soon adapted and appreciated the farm life and the role required to be a farm wife. She learned to multitask very well and assisted with both the farming and animal agriculture production way of life. Her husband preceded her in death on December 12, 2015, exactly ten years prior to Mary Lou's passing.
Mary Lou loved everyone she met and always saw the positive in others, values that were instilled in her by her mother and siblings. She learned at a very young age the importance of faith, family and going to church at the Nazarene Church several times each week. She became a member of the Herndon Covenant Church, Covenant Women Ministries, and served on the church board. She loved music, playing the piano, singing and attending all activities in the local community and schools. Being a cancer survivor, she was a volunteer for Reach to Recovery and assisted with many people dealing with cancer. She was a 4-H leader while her children were growing up. She loved to read books, crochet, and watch college and professional sports. She would always cheer for Kansas State (KSU) and anyone playing Kansas (KU).
Survivors include a son, Mark and Barbara Olson, Hoxie; a son-in-law, James and Kimberly Witt, Oberlin; eight grandchildren, Sarah and Brandon White, Olathe, Keely and Chris Wilson, Bird City, Tyler and Tiffany Witt, Oberlin, Kurt and Rachelle Olson, Marysville, Seth and Joseph Olson, New Albany, Ohio, Mary and Spencer Rose, Hoxie, Sam and Erin Olson, Aurora, Colorado, and Abigail Olson, Arlington, Virginia, two step grandchildren, Ashley and Derek Chambers, Oberlin, and Whitney and Jordan Tally, Oberlin; twenty great grandchildren, Julie and Matheo Karleen, Harmony, Derek, Noah, Luke, Jonathan, Adeli, Thaddeus and Zachery Wilson, Trevor and Tessa Witt, Claire and Paige White, Ava, Frasier, and Maris Olson, Lincoln and Will Rose, Alleigh and Abby Olson.
She was preceded in death by her parents and husband; a daughter, Julie Witt; a son, Rex Olson; a great-grandson, Oliver Wilson, two great-granddaughters, Elia Wilson and Faith Wilson; one brother, Leo T. Bendon, five sisters, Lila Jean Bendon, Frances Starbuck, Cecil Hess, Glee Jorn, and Helen Riepl; seven brothers-in-law, Paul Starbuck, Dan Hess, Don Jorn, Jerry Riepl, Robert W. Olson, Dale Olson, and Bill Peebles; three sisters-in-law, Marianna Bendon, Sally Olson, and Maxine Peebles.,
Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, December 18, 2025 at Herndon Covenant Church at 10:00AM. Visitation will be from 1:00-7:00PM at Plumer-Gobber Funeral Home, with family receiving guests from 5:00-7:00PM. Burial will be in Oberlin Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made out to Herndon Covenant Church or GROW Decatur County. Condolence can be left at www.plumergobber.com.