DeAnne “Dee” Elizabeth Sample Olson died peacefully on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, after a brief but difficult battle with pancreatic cancer.  She was 70.  Dee was born on July 20, 1947, in Arlington, Va., to Richard and Elizabeth Sample. Raised in Seward, Neb., she always knew she wanted to be a nurse. She volunteered as a candy striper in high school, she got her LPN in 1966 and worked as a floor nurse and as an office nurse before retiring in 2012. Dee and Marvin Olson met on a blind date while Dee was in nursing school. They married two and a half years later on Easter Sunday in 1968. Marv’s career in the U.S. Air Force enabled them to travel the world together.  In retirement, they continued traveling for adventure and fun, discovering recreational geocaching, hunting and finding more than 10,000 across nine countries and multiple U.S. states in seven years – and laughing through it all.  Though Dee lived long-distance from her four grandchildren, she made it her mission to be present for their birthdays, performances, baptisms, holidays and school breaks. She sewed costumes for them, baked cakes for them, planned trips with them and spoke proudly of them whenever she had the chance.  For 32 years, she was an active member of Shalimar United Methodist Church. She loved the church for its ministry, music and outreach. But it was the friends she made there that she loved most of all. Dee was preceded in death by her parents and brother, James Sample.  Dee is survived by her husband of almost 50 years, Marvin; son, Michael Olson; daughter, Michelle Olson Johnson and her husband Paul; and four adoring grandchildren, Carter, Ellie Grace and Luke Johnson and Mia Olson.  A funeral service will be held Thursday, Nov. 9, at 11:00 a.m., with visitation one hour prior service time at Shalimar United Methodist Church. Interment will follow on Nov. 10 at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to Shalimar UMC. 

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