Meet your neighbor Carol Olsen of Stronghurst, born in DeWitt, Iowa.
Carol grew up with two older sisters and two younger brothers on a farm outside a little Iowa town of Calamus. They attended a small country Lutheran Church. Her parents now live in Wheatland, Iowa.
Carol married James Olsen at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Burlington, IA over 25 years ago. The couple worked in construction which they continued after moving to Bloomington.
Jim was called to be a pastor of churches in Lostant and Richland, and later Kirkwood and Smithshire. In 1993, Carol took over the Genesis book store in Monmouth and she and her husband moved to Monmouth. Her husband retired, but later was asked to preach at the Raritan Reformed Church and later at the Bethel Lutheran Church in Stronghurst where they both moved.
Carol enjoys teaching an adult Sunday School Class at Raritan and she is active in their church circles and feels right at home in a small village.
She is a Hawk Eye fan, a Chicago Cub Fan, enjoys gardening, reading, and playing the trombone.
Each Sunday evening throughout the summer she plays in the Burlington Municipal Band at Crapo Park.
She and her husband have ten children she especially enjoys being a grandmother, and she loves her work of ministry at Genesis Christian Book Store in Monmouth, and in the churches of Raritan and Stronghurst.