Inez B. Olson

Inez was born December 10, 1905, at Lake Park, MN, to L.M. and Mary Ebeltoft Olson. She was baptized and confirmed at Lake Park Lutheran Church. She graduated from Lake Park High School in 1923. She then attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and graduated with a B.A. degree in 1927. Inez taught biology primarily, but also English and Latin. She began her teaching career in 1928 in Lake Park, MN, and then moved to Casselton, ND. At that time she pursued graduate study at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, before returning to teaching at Watford City, ND. She earned a M.A. Degree in Education from the University of Minnesota in 1940. Her career included years at Anoka High School; Minot Teachers College, Minot, ND; Moorhead High School; and seventeen years at Hibbing High School and Junior College. She returned to Lake Park to care for her mother and concluded her career at Lake Park High School, retiring in 1970. She said, "These were interesting years because I was teaching children of former students." In 1950, Inez was elected to Delta Kappa Gamma, National Honor Society for Women Teachers. In 1959, Inez was selected to take Field Courses in Botany and Zoology at the University of Minnesota Forestry and Biological Station at Itasca State Park. She was a member of the National Retired Teachers Association. She taught Norwegian School near Lake Park and was a member of Lake Park Lutheran Church, serving on various committees and organizations over the years. She was especially active on the Church Library committee. She was a member and volunteer with the Lake Park Historical Society. Arriving in 1870, both her Ebeltoft and Olson grandparents were among the first settlers in Lake Park. She enjoyed reading, hiking and birding. She is survived by her niece, Mary Beth Peter Rikeman, of Aurora, CO; and the Nesius and Latnhotna families of Lake Park. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Roland Ebeltoft; sister-in-law, Elizabeth Olson, of Hampton, VA; and a nephew, Larry Olson, of Copenhagen, Denmark