Obituary of Lydia Vieno Olesiak

Lydia Vieno Olesiak, 84 of Sawyer went to be with the Lord on Thursday, December 13, 2001 with her family by her side. She was born January 4, 1917 in Sawyer to Nels and Mary (Kotiranta) Kamunen. She graduated as class Valedictorian from Cromwell High School in 1935. On November 23, 1938, Lydia married Raymond Olesiak. She farmed with her husband and was a licensed boarding home operator and caregiver to many. The Olesiaks were the Carlton County Farm Family of the Year in 1986. Lydia was awarded the Outstanding Senior Citizen of Carlton County. She organized the Sawyer Sunshine 4-H Club and was a 4-H leader for 30 years. She was a member of Bethany Lutheran Church, Sawyer Cemetery Board, Farmers Union, American Dairy Association, the Hjalmar - Alto American Legion Post 429 Auxiliary, Cloquet & Cromwell Coop Board and was a delegate of Associated Milk Producers Incorporated. Lydia also wrote the Sawyer news in the local papers for 30 years. She loved to cook, bake, sew, garden and has won many ribbons with her exhibits at the county fair. She also chaperoned many 4-H State Fair trips. She enjoyed watching her children and grandchildren play sports and was a dedicated Minnesota Twins and Vikings fan. Lydia was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Raymond on Nov. 14, 2001; an infant daughter, Kathleen and 2 brothers, Eino and Ray Kamunen. She is survived by six daughters, Virginia (Darrel) Wickstrom of Barnum, Marilyn Kiehl and Sally Kelley, both of Cloquet, Barbara (Tim) Dahl of Wright, Gloria Olesiak of Mahtowa and Caroline (Dan) Switzer of Outing; three sons, Tim (Lorie) of Cloquet, Rick (Sue) of Cromwell and Fred of Sawyer; her sister, Ida Rose (Donald) Sunnarborg of Laurel, Montana; her brother, Dan (Sonja) Kamunen of Littleton, Colorado; 30 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren. Visitation was held Sunday, December 16, 2001 in Northland Funeral Home, 801 14th St. in Cloquet Funeral services were held at 11 am Monday, December 17, 2001 in Bethany Lutheran Church in Cromwell. Burial was in the Sawyer Cemetery. Memorial contributions are preferred to Bethany Lutheran Church, Cromwell. Arrangements entrusted to Northland Funeral Home, Cloquet.