Norris Arlie Olson

Norrie Olson died on his 102nd birthday, June 19, 2020, at the Minnesota Veterans’ Home in Fergus Falls. He was born in 1918 in Moorhead, Minnesota, to Ole and Stella Olson. Norrie was baptized at First Methodist Church in Fargo when he was 4 months old, and he has been a life-long member there.

In 1919 Norrie’s family moved to Fargo and then to Fergus Falls in 1921. He attended grade school in Fergus Falls before his family returned to Fargo in 1931.

Norrie and his family lived on 10th Street South in Fargo, and they kept that house until Ole died in 1980. Ole and Stella’s backyard was mostly garden. They loved watching the birds that frequented the feeders right outside their big kitchen window. Years later Norrie would often sit in the backyard of his own home, teaching his daughters the names of the birds they could see and imitating their calls.

Norrie and his younger brother Roger attended Fargo Central High School; Norrie graduated in 1937. Norrie was a bellhop at the Gardner Hotel in Fargo starting in 1938, while he attended Interstate Business College. Norrie also attended North Dakota Agricultural College (nka NDSU).
On weekends in 1938 and 1939 Norrie and the Sea Scouts built a cabin on Big Toad Lake. He only got to stay in the cabin one night before going into the Army, though. When he got back from the service, the cabin had been sold.

In 1941 Norrie worked for the American News Company, distributing magazines to area drug stores. Later in 1941 Norrie enlisted in the Army and shipped out to England on the Queen Elizabeth. He was transferred to the Air Force and was stationed at Burtonwood Air Force Base in England for 3 years. As a clerk in the Air Force, his main duty was supplying the troops so they could do their jobs. Norrie was honorably discharged in November 1945 after World War II ended.

In 1946 Norrie started working at Gaffaney’s Office Specialties in Fargo. He worked there for 41 years, in sales and management. He retired in 1987 when he was 70 years old.

Norrie met Ruth Skoog at a dance at the Crystal Ball Room in Fargo. They got married at the home of Ruth’s grandparents, the Blumers, near Walcott, North Dakota, on April 11, 1947. For their first anniversary they took a trip to Sun Valley, Idaho, to ski with friends.

Norrie and Ruth lived in an apartment on Broadway in Fargo when they were first married. They each had only one block to walk to work. In 1951 they bought a newly constructed home on 16th Avenue North in Fargo. Their twin daughters, Jane and Lori, were born in 1956. They were adopted by Norrie and Ruth when they were just a couple weeks old. The 1957 tornado did some damage to their house on 16th Avenue and took down their apple tree, while the family was all huddled together, taking cover under the work bench in the basement.

The Olsons’ house was always full of joy and fun. Norrie and Ruth always encouraged and affirmed their daughters. Norrie was very easy going. He often walked around the house singing and whistling while Ruth played the piano. Norrie served as a good role model to his daughters, stressing the importance of being kind to others.

Norrie taught the twins the sports he enjoyed: golf, tennis, and snow and water skiing. He towed his daughters on water skis 3 ½ miles across Pelican Lake when they were 6 years old. In the winter, Norrie and Ruth took them snow skiing almost every weekend. The only sport Norrie enjoyed that he didn’t teach his girls was ski jumping. He spent many years on the area ski jump circuit.

Norrie and Ruth gave their girls so much of their time, and they sacrificed a great deal so they could buy their daughters skis, golf clubs, tennis rackets, vacations, bikes, cars, and college educations. Norrie was known to be frugal; but for their fifth birthday Norrie bought Jane and Lori each a bike on sale at Sears in January and stored the bikes in the upper level at Gaffaney’s over the winter, so he could surprise the girls with them on their birthday. He was just as excited as the girls were about those bikes.

In the summers Norrie and Ruth took their daughters to the Olson cabin on Pelican Lake almost every weekend, where he encouraged them to swim and dive. Norrie helped construct the one bedroom cabin with lumber from an old grainery, when he was 20 years old.

Norrie and his family lived in a great neighborhood on 16th Avenue North in Fargo, where there were a lot of kids close to the girls’ age. The girls spent a lot of time playing softball and kickball in the gully across the street. Many of their neighbors became life-long friends.
Norrie loved to watch the Lawrence Welk show. He would dance with Ruth and the girls around the living room as the Lawrence Welk orchestra played. Norrie and Ruth loved to dance, and they made a great pair on the dance floor as members of the Fargo Elks Club and several area dance clubs.

Norrie enjoyed singing, and he was in several choirs. He and his family followed the bouncing ball on television, singing along with Mitch Miller. Norrie was in choirs at the Fargo Elks Club and at the Minnesota Veterans’ Home. They performed at various places around the area.

In 1971, Norrie and Ruth bought a house on 1st Street North in Fargo, just across the El Zagel golf course from their first house. They lived there for more than 30 years. Norrie and Ruth delivered Meals on Wheels for many years while they lived there. In 2002 they sold their house and moved into an apartment on 8th Street South in Fargo. Norrie’s vision was not very good by that time, so he could not drive. When he was 90 years old, Norrie went to the Motor Vehicle Department and turned in his driver’s license.

Norrie and Ruth lived on 8th Street South until the spring of 2009, when sadly Ruth was diagnosed with brain cancer and had to move to the Bethany nursing home. Norrie decided to move to the Bethany assisted living apartments, so he could walk down the halls to visit Ruth several times a day. He also got help with cooking and cleaning there. Norrie has always been very social, and Bethany gave him people to talk to and lots of activities to enjoy.

At age 94 Norrie decided he wanted to water ski, so he was taken out for a spin on Big McDonald Lake. He did well, and he was pretty proud that he had water skied at age 94. Not many people can say that.
When he lived at Bethany assisted living, Norrie bought a three-wheeled electric scooter to get around town. He rode that scooter from Bethany all the way out to KFGO to go to their picnic – that was a long way for someone who couldn’t see very well. Norrie loved to listen to the KFGO and WDAY talk shows on the radio, and he often called in with his points of view.

Norrie drove his scooter from Bethany to First Methodist Church on Sundays. One Sunday, when he was coming back to Bethany from First Methodist, his scooter stopped in the middle of 10th Street South. He got off it and was going to push it across the street, when it took off on him. Norrie fell to the ground and broke his hip. After his hip surgery, Norrie had to go to the Bethany nursing home for rehab for about 6 weeks. When he finished with rehab, he needed too much care to return to Bethany assisted living. He did not want to stay in the nursing home, so he went to live at Lori and Don’s home on Big McDonald Lake for about 9 months to recuperate. Norrie had lost about 50 pounds after breaking his hip, he couldn’t walk, and he had to be on oxygen. Lori’s good cooking fattened him up. When he became strong enough to walk with a walker, he went back to Bethany assisted living.

When Norrie needed long-term nursing care, he went to live at the Minnesota Veteran’s Home in Fergus Falls. It was a Godsend. He loved it there. Between the many nice people working there and members of community organizations, Norrie was able to enjoy a lot of music programs and special events, going out for breakfast and for steak dinners, and even fishing and Redhawks games. The community honored the veterans at every opportunity.

Norrie lived a good long life; he was always happy. He had a strong faith in Christ, so we trust he is now in heaven in the presence of God and his loved ones, singing and dancing, as always.