Obituary: Annette Carol Olson, 81

Annette Carol Samuelson was born on October 27, 1944, to Mildred (Israelson) and Gainhart Samuelson in Petersburg, Alaska, where she would live her entire life. The second of six children, Annette was a born mama's helper. She loved her family deeply and her desire to do whatever she could for them informed her entire life. Her father, a fisherman, was rarely home. Even at a young age Annette recognized how hard Mildred worked to keep food on the table and to fill her family's childhood with love. Annette wanted nothing more than to help her, so from an early age she pitched in however she could-and she loved it. Her greatest dream was to one day have a family of her own.

Before she was twenty she had two girls, Cindy and Shirlene. Despite the challenges she then faced as a young mother, Annette was determined to graduate high school – and she did in 1965 with her younger brother Bud Samuelson's class, an accomplishment Bud would praise for the rest of his days.

The summer after Annette and Bud graduated, when Cindy was two years old and Shirlene one, Bud brought a friend over to meet Annette. Helmer (Bill) Olson had noticed her on the first day of his sophomore year at Petersburg High School as the-new-kid-from-Ketchikan, but was told, "she's a senior and she has a boyfriend." So he'd respectfully admired her from afar. Bill graduated the year before them and had been working hard ever since. He loved children and was undaunted by the responsibilities of taking on a family. They were married in Ketchikan on January 22, 1966, and would prove to be the perfect team to create the family Annette had always dreamed of – one where the children would always come first in a home with a full cookie jar for the extended family and friends, who would always be welcome.

Bill loved her girls as his own, and with the births of Duane and Tanya, Annette's dream was coming true. Together they worked hard to make ends meet and to create warm family memories. Annette remained very close with her mother and they both loved picnics – regardless of the weather. Bill shoveled snow so they could get the car, which the kids refused to get out of, close to the campfire so Mildred and Annette could deliver cooked hotdogs through the window. This is not a thing that happened once, it was a winter routine.

In addition to caring for her family, Annette cared about the Lutheran Church. She created lasting memories with her quilting friends over many years of gathering in the basement most weeks to sew quilts and share sack lunches. One of her favorite things was showcasing all the quilts they'd created over the previous year on the church pews each Easter before sending them off to people in need around the world. When the gardens around the church had become overgrown Annette volunteered to help. She took great pride in reviving and tending the church garden until her health just wouldn't allow her to keep up with it anymore.

She often returned home from running errands to find children sprawled around her living room and sometimes none of them were technically hers. When school broke for lunch, anywhere from two to 10 of her kids, nieces, nephews and their friends would show up at her house and she truly enjoyed making sandwich after sandwich so that no one left her home hungry. They affectionately called her 'The Lunchlady.' They loved her – and her endless supply of delicious chocolate chip cookies.

Each and every May she and Bill looked forward to participating in the Memorial Day weekend's Salmon Derby, meticulously crafting lists, comparing them to previous years, and adding new items to enhance the weekend experience. Annette loved to spend time on the F/V Cindy Kaye fishing for salmon with Bill and caught several 45 to 50 pound king salmon, a beautiful 52 pound king salmon and one that weighed in at 56 pounds! One morning in Thomas Bay, before she'd even had her coffee, Annette hooked a 44-pound king that won first place in the 1992 Derby.

In the summer she enjoyed spending weeks at a time at Point Agassiz. Annette cherished her Israelson-family heritage and loved tending to the old family homestead with her dear uncle Marvin Israelson. Together they expanded the gardens and lawns, forming a dynamic duo tackling various projects such as preparing a new potato patch, painting to maintain the homestead, and devising ways to improve efficiency with limited resources. Annette loved nothing more than being up to her elbows in dirt! She truly had a green thumb, growing absolutely beautiful flowers and delicious vegetables. Agassiz neighbors joked, "Give her an old lawn mower and she could clear a path for Reid's Logging."

In the fall Bill and Annette would prepare for moose camp, loading up the camp trailer with plenty of coffee and numerous tins filled with her famous spritz and overnight cookies to satisfy the remarkable number of people who stopped by needing to warm up, before heading out to find that elusive legal moose. Annette bagged two moose over the years, a source of great pride for Bill. She loved the subsistence lifestyle, harvesting berries for her famous jams and jellies, canning fish, smoking fish, pickling fish, making jerky, spekekjott, rullepolse and her own sauerkraut with cabbage she grew in her gardens. When work was done, she relaxed by crocheting. While most famous for her cozy baby blankets, she also enjoyed making doilies, Christmas ornaments, afghans and beautiful cross-shaped bible bookmarks.

Whatever Bill was doing or working on, Annette was happy to lend him a hand. From new recipes for his smoked salmon to hand-slicing a LOT of onions for his pickled fish, she was right there by his side. They shared everything in life – more than just husband and wife, they were partners and best friends who often began their days at Point Agassiz with an early morning beach walk to their favorite log where they'd enjoy their coffee, and ended them with an evening drive to admire the surrounding beauty, hoping to catch a glimpse of some wildlife.

On the beautiful, cold and crisp morning of Sunday, December 21, 2025, Annette passed away with her loving family by her side after a four-year battle with cancer. She spent her life serving and loving people – and they loved her back. She will be missed beyond measure and her spirit will remain with us in her stunning flowers and gardens and whenever friends and family gather together to enjoy a meal, especially a picnic!

She was preceded in death by her father, Gainhart Samuelson; her beloved mother and best friend, Mildred Massey; step-dad Jack Massey; brothers Gainhart (Bud) Samuelson and Andrew Massey; sister Darlene Samuelson; and grandson Bryan Cheney.

Annette is survived by her devoted husband of sixty-years, Bill Olson; children Cindy Vanatta, Shirlene Olson, Duane Olson and Tanya (David) Thynes; sisters Janice Kvernvik and Betty Massey; grandchildren Jessica, Heather, Tanelle, Dustin, Hannah, Shane, Aaron, Joshua, and Erik; great-grandchildren Addison, Odessa, Helmi, Heidi, Grayson, and Emmerson, as well as many beloved nieces and nephews. They will dearly miss her Swedish Pancake family breakfasts, chex mix made in her 'magic pan' and the homemade Jell-O and Kool-Aid popsicles (in dixie cups with a craft stick for the handle) that she made each summer.

A memorial service will be held

at Petersburg Lutheran Church

on Saturday, April 4, at 1:00 p.m.

followed by a reception at

the Holy Cross House. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the WMC Foundation Cancer Care Program,

PO Box 2175, Wrangell, AK 99829.