Community leader Sheila Olsen remembered as an optimist
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IDAHO FALLS — A well known community leader, volunteer and activist passed away Sunday surrounded by loved ones.
Sheila Ann Olsen, 79, died at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center following a recent illness.
“My mother was very dedicated to serving in her community and in her family, in her church and politically,” Maria Nate, Olsen’s fifth child, told EastIdahoNews.com. “That was a real center point of her life.”
Olsen served the community in a variety of capacities. Two weeks before her passing she was appointed for a third term as commissioner of the Idaho Human Rights Commission. She was one of the founders of the “Unity in the Community” Prayer-a-Thon that happened annually from 1994 to 2014. She even served as an elector in the electoral college in 1988 when George H.W. Bush was elected. She also served as a longtime local representative for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was active in the state Republican Party.
“She met every challenge with optimism,” Nate said. “She was just very determined to live her life fully despite her disabilities.”
She said her mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was pregnant with her. Olsen lived with the disease for more than 50 years. Nate said her mother was advised not to have any more children, but went on to have five more anyway.
“She was a glass-half-full girl,” Nate said. “It didn’t matter how hard it was for her to get places or do things — she just still did them without complaining.”
Nate said everything was an adventure for Olsen.
“She just sort of instilled that in her children — to just look at things in a positive way,” Nate said. “And just such determination to live life at its fullest. She was determined to live even when it became apparent that there was nothing more we could do, she still wanted to be here. It was amazing.”
Funeral services will be held on Monday at the LDS Coronado Stake Center in Idaho Falls at 11 a.m.