OBITUARY: SueAnn Olson

SueAnn Olson

SueAnn Olson passed away on April 30, 2023 at Mesa View Regional Hospital, Mesquite, NV. She was born in Byron MN on July 7, 1947 to Marvin and Winifred (Voll) Bausman. She was baptized and confirmed at the Methodist Church in Bryon, Minnesota.

She graduated from Byron High School and attended UW La Crosse where she earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Physical Education. She was a member of the honor fraternity Alpha Xi Delta. While attending college, she met her husband, Jim. They were married after graduation on July 12, 1969.

She taught for one year at Kickapoo High School and then was hired the next year at the Norwalk Ontario School District/Brookwood High School, where she joined her husband who was teaching high school history and social studies. Sue taught K-12 physical education, coached gymnastics, track and field and was an advisor for GAA, Letterman’s Club, and student class advisor. Her true passion was gymnastics. As a high school coach, her gymnastic teams dominated Southwest Wisconsin gymnastics during a time when there was only one division for all of the schools in the state. Her 1977 team was undefeated during the regular season and she won the Scenic Bluffs Gymnastics Conference Championship in 1977 and 78. In 1978, her team won the regional meet and placed second at the section meet. Four of the team members from that team qualified for the state meet. Besides coaching, Sue was also a gymnastics judge. Her judging career started at the high school level where she was a state meet judge for the Wisconsin Athletic Association (WIAA) for several years. For her hard work and dedication to the sport, she was inducted into the Wisconsin Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2003-2004. After retiring from teaching, she continued to judge high school meets in addition to traveling many weekends to judge Big Ten Conference Meets.

She left her teaching career in 1978, when she and her husband, purchased the Alpine Inn on Grandads Bluff in Lacrosse WI. While at the Alpine Inn, they teamed up with their friend, Jay Buckley, to form a baseball tour company which is today the largest baseball tour company in the United States. They ran the Alpine Inn till 1986 when they purchased the Ford-Mercury Dealership in Viroqua. They ran the Ford-Mercury dealership for twenty years.

During this time Sue returned to UW-La Crosse and earned her MBA, graduating with honors. Two memorable things that occurred while they owned the dealership were: 1. She was awarded the Ford Business Management award for her excellent performance as a Ford Dealer accountant for 15 years of preparing, interpreting and submitting accurate financial data to the company. A tough job indeed! 2. They won tickets to attend Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans.

In 1999, she and her husband discovered Mesquite, Nevada. On one of their trips to Mesquite, they purchased a car rental company which ran for three years before they closed it up. In 2012, they made the decision to move to Mesquite. It was a perfect location for them. It had warmer weather, was close to the Utah National Parks and Triple -A baseball in Las Vegas. They had the moving van loaded and on the road, when Sue was diagnosed with a blood lymphoma called Waldenstrom’s Macroblobulinemia.

Many friends stepped up to allow Jim to meet the moving van in Mesquite while Sue began her chemotherapy at Gundersen Clinic in La Crosse WI. Once settled in Nevada, they decided to continue her cancer treatment in Wisconsin. With the help of a long list of friends they were able to travel back to WI to continue getting treatment at Gunderson Clinic. In 2020, Sue suffered a setback in her battle with cancer and was hospitalized at Intermountain Heath in St George Utah. During this stay, they found a new team of Oncology doctors and support staff at Intermountain Health that worked really hard to get Sue back on her feet till her passing.

The family expresses thanks and gratitude for Dr John Farnen and his staff at Gundersen Clinic in La Crosse WI and Dr. Karen Lin, PA, Matt Lundin, Dr Kyle Gulbranson and their staffs at Intermountain Healthcare in St George UT, and Mesa View Home Care in Mesquite NV for the wonderful care and support over the years; and thanks and gratitude to the many friends who helped throughout the years.

Her hobbies were reading, painting, adult color books and word searches.

Sue is survived by her husband of 54 years, Jim (James) Olson; her brother’s wife Linda Bausman; niece, Jennifer (Eric) Schultz and family; nephew John (Christie) Bausman and family; sister-in-law Mary (Paul) Bockhorst and family; and brother-in-law John (Peggy) Olson.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Marvin and Winifred (Voll) Bausman; her parents-in-law, Howie and Eleanor Olson, and her brother, Gary Bausman.

A memorial service will be held at the Mesquite United Methodist Church on Saturday, May 20, 2023 starting at 11am. Streaming may be viewed at youtube: Mesquite Methodist Church. Interment will be at the Bunkerville Cemetery.

A Celebration of Life will be held in Viroqua WI. Date and location TBD.

The family invites you to leave a memory or message on their guestbook page at www.starmortuary.com.

Donations in memory of SueAnn may be made to Paula’s Purse Fund at Gundersen Medical Foundation, 1900 South Avenue, Mailstop FDN-001, La Crosse, WI 54601 or online at https://foundation.gundersenhealth.org/paula-purse.