Olivia DeGeest

Olivia Caroline DeGeest, 80, arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 17, 1943 and is now writing her next chapter in heaven.

So, here’s the thing - my mom loved adventures. Often growing up we would leave the driveway for two or three weeks with no real plan or final destination. We had books on hot springs and national parks to guide us. We would travel in the truck and camper or the Blazer with coolers filled with frozen venison and cupboards of canned vegetables from the garden.

My mom’s parents were Heartland and Olivia Callender. Now, they were characters - a lot of stories to be told there. My mother and her sister, Caroline, were a few years apart, but they shared stories of figure skating with their dad and their mom’s favorite orange carrot Jell-O salad plus cinnamon rolls.

Teaching was my mom’s passion. She often liked to share she taught three to 90-year-olds. She particularly loved teaching second to fourth graders. She touched many students’ lives and left many memories of handprints on pillow cases. She taught many things to many folks, including microwave cooking classes when microwaves first came out, helping a 90-year-old achieve his GED, and teaching many kids how to read.

After her teaching career she took on running the office at IPS Cranes. All could share many memories of her management style; she loved you all.

My mom was loved by many. Some of her favorite times were family reunions and visiting with friends. She enjoyed dirt biking and snowmobiling with her husband, Charlie, cuddling and watching movies with her grandson, Ronan (12). My mom and her granddaughter, Regan (11), loved to bake cakes together from scratch while her other granddaughter, Ryann (9), loved to drive her around on the four-wheeler. Pat, her son-in-law, enjoyed taking my mom on sunset boat cruises with a glass of wine. Her youngest daughter, Heather, always offered her an adventure when our folks visited her - whether she was at her home in Montana or Idaho - while she worked different jobs with the U.S. Forest Service. 

And of course, there is Pedro the cat (our Garfield), my mom’s beloved pet who came to the hospital to visit many times (popular with all the nurses) and would sit by her side and bite her when she wasn’t giving him enough attention. Pedro was found in a wheel well at the IPS Duluth shop during the wintertime when he was a newborn kitten and was fed by my mom with a syringe.

And thank you to Scott, her truly closest friend. Thank you for listening to all of her stories and spending so much time with her.

While Mom is in heaven, we will think of her often and wonder if she fired anyone lately (always the boss). We will plan for a late spring gathering of friends and family with mom’s favorite foods and I’m sure there will be a big bonfire at the farm.  

That’s it for now, until we see each other again to share more stories of the days behind and the days ahead. 

--From Jackie, her eldest daughter - referred to by Mom as the boss, sometimes fondly, sometimes not, but always with love, kisses and hugs.

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