Obituary

(The obituary in the papers is a shortened version of this. Thanks to Bret for writing it).

Craig Allen Olson, 65, passed away in his home Sunday, October 27, 2013, after a long and valiant fight with cancer. In life and at passing, he was surrounded by his family, and certainly enjoyed a sweet reunion with his loving parents-in-law, John & Betty Wunderli and his grandparents, who preceded him in death. Born May 25, 1948, to Calvin & Ruth Olson in Salt Lake City, UT, Craig was raised on the family ranch is Vernon, UT where he was taught the lessons that would shape his life. He served an LDS mission at 19 to Australia. After meeting his sweetheart Judy, they were married in the Los Angeles, California LDS temple for time and all eternity. Craig graduated from Utah State University, and then embarked on a 36 year journey teaching religious classes for the LDS Church Education System in Utah, Colorado, and finally Arizona where he finished his career. Craig and Judy served a 2-year mission to BYU Hawaii, again teaching religion classes to some of God’s choicest children. It was one of the greatest times of their lives. Craig lived his life to the fullest, worked hard, played hard, and found great joy in life’s simple pleasures and was loved by all. He spent his last moments on earth serving, teaching, and professing his love and gratitude to his family. He is survived by his eternal companion, Judy, children Jason and ReeAnn (Roberts) Olson, Mindi and Bryan Bunker, Ariane and Bret Woods, Zachary and Rachael (Searle) Olson, 15 precious grandchildren, his parents Calvin & Ruth, and siblings Jim Olson, John Olson, Mark Olson, Judy Sautter, Lana Thomas, Myrl Benson and Jeanine Timothy. We wish to thank Reflections Hospice for their loving care of Craig.

Utah Funeral Details

Sorry we didn't get AZ funeral details posted on this blog but here is the information for Utah this week:

@ Vernon Ward Building

Tue., Nov. 5
Visitation 6-8pm

Wed., Nov. 6
Visitation 10am
Funeral 11am

We continue to be very grateful for all of your support.

Address

Some have asked for Mom's address. Since we don't want to post it you can email me and I'll send it to you: racholson@gmail.com.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers - we feel them.

Until We Meet Again

Dad passed away this morning. He was suffering a lot and although we miss him dearly we are glad he is free from pain.

Mom will write a post soon with more information.

We will post funeral details when arranged.

Thank you for your love and prayers.

Earthly angels

Good Morning!

Craig and I haven't known what to write and we wanted to spare all of you the day to day ups and downs of this crazy disease; and there are many!  We decided to share with you some of the things we have learned and of the tender mercies that we have been blessed with.  We know there are earthly angels here upon the earth and we have had angelic help in lifting our burdens! How can we ever repay all of you for your kindness, your love, support and prayers?   The letters of kindness and love have buoyed us, brought laughter, cherished memories remembered and have reminded us of what really is important. Thank you!

So often we are asked by others what they can do to help; there are times we don't even know what is needed. The Lord does and has blessed  us and has sent others to lighten our load.  One such example is of a sweet young mother in our ward, who had a hard day herself, and as she was praying our names came to her. She did not know we had a rough day at the hospital and we were both exhausted. I was trying to get some much needed supplies for Craig and it was a mess;  I was ready to cry. This sweet women came with a hymn book in hand and asked if she could sing to us! (We play hymns in all forms and love them but because we do not have good voices this form of service would never have come to our minds....it would not be soothing! Although it would provide some humor.)  She sang for 30 min. and as she did so the sweet spirit of peace returned to our home and calmness returned to our hearts.  What a gift she was to us.....thank you for listening to the spirit and lifting our weary hearts.  We have since had others do this same thing of bringing a greater portion of the spirit to us through music. How grateful we are for there amazing talent and willingness to share it not only with us but also a neighbor who has some serious health problems herself and was in need of this too!

We do have a daily angel that comes; DaNae.  She is a master gardner and with her arms and hands she toils on our behalf  to keep our yard beautiful! Not only is this a blessing to us, it has blessed our children. They are more than willing to do the yard but because of her service it allows them them to come and visit their dad, help groom him, read to him, minister or just hold their dad's hand and cry if needed.

We have been blessed by CD's, quotes, visits, soup and homemade breads delivered. Men coming and sitting with Craig to allow me to go to the Temple and get some things done. The Priesthood coming to administer the sacrament, looking sharp in their white shirts, and blessings given. An example of this is when Craig was in the hospital recently and was going to have two unpleasant procedure done. The PA at the hospital who was doing the  procedures on Craig not only did them but honored his priesthood when Craig was in need by asking and being ready to give Craig a blessing!  He was another earthly angel that was an answer to our plea for help!

All of these acts of charity (and these are just a few) have brought a sweetness and a lifting to our experience. All have been a tender mercy from our Heavenly Father and it feels as if we are receiving a "love letter" from our Heavenly home.  We know that He is aware of us and we are being watched over always. Oh how we love the gospel of Jesus Christ! As hard as this is, we are grateful for the refinement we are receiving, the support that is lifting our weary souls and the knowledge that this life is not the end. Families can be together forever!

We send our love to you all! Thank you all for being earthly angels to us.

Love,

Craig and Judy

Thank You!!!! From our Heart!!!!!!

Thank you so much for the wonderful notes what memories we have of all of you.  We wish we could write to each one of you and tell you how you have touched our lives and what we have learned from you. How blessed we are to have shared these moments together with you.  We have had fun going down memory lane with your notes!!!!! What joy you have given us!!!!.  We can never thank you enough.  We realize we are not the only one with trials and heartaches and our prayers go out to all of you too.  We also remain strong in our testimonies and faith in the plan of happiness. This life is to short so eternity sounds wonderful. We are honored that you would contact us, we love you for it!!!! We had our 42nd anniversary yesterday and it started out busy through the night with another clogged feeding tube from about 10pm to 2:30am.  Although it was a late night I was able to go to the temple with our daughter Ariane to represent Craig and I on our anniversary. We wished we could have gone together about that is not possible right now.  We had a candle light dinner with me having a lobster tail (Craig wanted me to have one for the two of us) he was on the feeding tube and also had some baby food!!! We made a fun memory together!  Cancer can do a lot of things but it can't cripple love, it cannot shatter hope or faith.  It cannot ruin memories and it has been said it cannot steal Eternal Life and it cannot conquer the Spirit!!!!  Take care dear friends and if you were all here we would give you all big hugs. With Much Aloha Craig and Judy Olson

Update

Dad is still having trouble with his feeding tube getting clogged. It's very painful to have to replace it - and odd that this keeps happening. Please pray that his feeding tube will work correctly and not cause him any further problems. We really appreciate and can feel the effects of all your prayers and support. Thank you!

Happy 42nd Anniversary!

Thank you!

Our parents want to express their love to all of their wonderful and supportive family and friends! They feel truly blessed to have known and associated with each of you.  As we have read the many messages, notes and cards given, it has brought joy, tears, and laughter, and has helped to "fill their cup" (as my dad says). The countless memories and thoughts shared, as well as the innumerable prayers on their behalf, have been felt and are greatly appreciated. One of the main goals with this blog is to provide a place for memories to be written down of my dad that can be put toward a history book for him and help his future posterity to better know this great man through stories. Feel free to just write a memory or two.

An update on Craig: he had to have his feeding tube removed again, so we are hoping he will be able to drink some and even have a few bites of food.  He is a trooper as he dutifully keeps trying at our behest. He definitely is a great patient and always makes us feel better when it is us trying to help him.  We know that he can't go long without food and fluids so we are exploring options for getting food into him. He also had his abdomen drained again; it's never fun, but helps relieve the pressure and pain. We are so glad that hospice will allow this to continue.  It's possible that he might have to have a Denver drain put in, but the chance for infection is 100 %, and he likely wouldn't survive that.  It might be a necessity one day, but we hope and pray it is not anytime soon.

Craig still has very limited energy.  Consequently, he still spends much of his time sleeping, or at least trying to sleep. 

The Story

Just realized that if you look on your mobile phone you can't see the info. on the sidebar. Here it is:


Six years ago Dad was diagnosed with colon cancer. Through surgery and chemotherapy, the cancer went into remission and Dad & Mom were able to fulfill their dream of serving a mission. They served in Laie, Hawaii, at BYU Hawaii.

Near the end of their mission, the cancer returned: stage 4. He has tried different types of chemotherapy, but unfortunately the cancer progressed to his abdomen where it "weeps" causing him to build up fluid. This fluid build up is very painful and makes it nearly impossible for him to eat. In July, the situation was misdiagnosed as a bowel obstruction and his health quickly deteriorated as he could not eat and the cancer spread. Finally, an ER visit led to the discovery of the fluid and several liters were drained from his abdomen.

Wanting to leave no stone unturned, we as a family encouraged Dad to get a second-opinion at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah. They used a feeding tube to get him nutrition, but the cancer is taking all his calories and more. He has lost a significant amount of weight. The doctors were willing to try chemotherapy for 4 weeks to knock the cancer in the abdomen back sufficiently to allow him to rally for an experimental chemo treatment they have seen encouraging results from. He had a heart attack before treatment could begin and the doctors warned that the chemo option, while having a small chance of being effective, had a very high probability of causing a massive heart attack.

He is very tired and ill so he discontinued treatment and returned home. Basically he is starving and hospice care has been arranged. But of course we remain hopeful for more time, yet accepting of the Lord's will.

We are grateful for a knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and Happiness. We know that he is a great man and that the Lord must have need of him on the other side. We have no doubt where he is going. The Spirit has brought us great comfort and peace, as have the kind services and words offered by those around us.

We know many people love our dad and mom, but please check with family before visiting at this time - he is very tired. He wants to spend time with family. But we would love for you to post your thoughts, memories, and feelings here on this blog for us to share with him.

Thank you for your love, support, and prayers!

Love & Support

Although he is not up for visitors yet, if you are wanting to know a good time to visit please call or text one of the family.

We would be happy to read Dad & Mom the messages, thoughts, memories & comments shared by those who love them. Feel free to post. Thank you!

Family Pictures, July 2013 in Arizona