Christina Lynne Olson, 76, of Kiester passed away at her home Tuesday, June 24. A memorial service will be held Wednesday, July 2, at Nasinec Funeral Home in Wells, Minnesota. The visitation will run from 4 to 6 p.m. and the celebration of life service will begin at 6 p.m.

This obituary is written by her daughters, Michelle and Jessica:
The last several years we have seen her battle and successfully beat: stage four lung cancer with two mets to the brain (surviving due to Mayo treatments and Keytruda), a broken hip, a restricted heart valve, and most recently having surgery Christmas Eve and again in March. The last six months we watched her recover and gain strength bringing her back to what the family thought would be a well-earned stretch of good health. In recent months she had been able to enjoy gardening and planting many seeds and bulbs in what she appeared to be flush with returned health. It was with great shock that she suffered an apparent heart attack; this was the one thing her indomitable spirit could not overcome

Chris, as she was known to her friends, was born June 13, 1949, the oldest daughter of Arthur Paul Baydo, a longshoreman, and Rose Marie (Tinius), a stay at home mom. She grew up in Puyallup, Washington, and was an avid horsewoman who was crowned Rodeo Queen and Rodeo Princess in her teen years. She had a lifelong love of horses. She attended college for a short time before becoming a stewardess for Alaska Airlines. Later, her first marriage brought her to the state of Minnesota. And while that marriage was not fated to be, circumstances brought her to Kiester.  Kiester is where she met and married the love of her life, Danny Dwight Olson.

Chris Graduated from Puyallup High School in 1967. She attended Western Washington State College – her suitemate Lainie says she was always “dashing, dashing everywhere!” and later Mankato State University where she completed several degree programs, both at bachelor’s and master’s levels. She earned a Master of Science in Sociology and in Human Service Administration, a Master of Arts in Political Science and in Public Administration, B.S. Economics and a B.S. in Anthropology, B.A., International Relations, and a B.A., Sociology. She accomplished these degrees while often working full-time, and for a period, two full-time jobs as a single mother. Her grit and determination saw her through many challenges where others may have given up.

Her work experience was as eclectic as she was; she worked in manufacturing at different times in her life, owned a VHS video store “Video Express” and trading business, at the Navy’s riding stables at Norfolk, Virginia. She also worked at Wilson’s (and served as a union steward while at Wilson’s) and other meatpacking plants (when women were a rarity, but she held her own among the men), roofed as an independent contractor with her father-in-law Myron Olson, and served as a director of a nonprofit Blooming Prairie Center. She also initiated and established the Migrant and Low Income Housing of Southeastern Minnesota and brought several nonprofits to work together.

While working as a stewardess, her travels brought her to many places: Jamaica, New York, Alaska, Guantanamo Bay, Hawaii and many other locations. She also briefly lived in Charleston, Virginia Beach and Hawaii. Christina was an avid reader and collector of books. She easily had read thousands of books in her lifetime as she could often finish an entire book in one evening. (This is apparently a family trait that has passed through several generations.) Fun stat: between July 2014 and mid-April 2025, Chris checked out 2,375 books and items from the Albert Lea Public Library. During that timeframe, she also read many other books picked up from thrift stores.

Chris enjoyed playing Rummy 500 and card games with family. She also enjoyed gardening, genealogy and enjoyed the thrill of the hunt while antiquing and thrift shopping. She also enjoyed sharing her rock, shells and driftwood collection from Washington with the grandchildren. We all enjoyed her sharing all her plants with us.

She was a longtime champion of the underdog and had a strong sense of public service which she put to use serving on the school board of United South Central and while serving on executive boards at St. Luke’s Assisted Living in Blue Earth. Her service on these boards was very important to her. Her family and friends were the most important things in her life. If anyone ever needed her, she was there whether it was nearby or across country. Along with her love of family and friends, she loved her pets. Chris rescued many abandoned cats, dogs and horses over the years.

She was preceded in death by her daughter Sarah Melinda Johnson, parents Arthur and Rose Baydo, sister-in-law Karen Olson and father-in-law Myron Olson.

She is survived by her husband, Danny, of thirty-two years, daughters: Michelle (Rajesh) Gurung, Jessica Olson, Rose Olson, Chari Severns, Phil (Kirby) Olson, grandchildren:  Zoie (Zar) Rodriguez, Chase Bishop, Sammi Marolf, Bella Gonzalez, Belize Gonzalez, and Penelope Olson, great-grandson Zorin Rodriguez, sister Dianna Baydo, mother-in-law LaVonne Olson, and her life-long friends Linda Goodman, Lainie Leighton and Pam Severson and many other dear friends and family.

 

To Watch Christina’s Celebration of Life, please follow this link: https://youtube.com/live/grT1RJsCuq4?feature=share