Olive Louise (Pedersen) Caspers

Olive Louise (Pedersen) Caspers, 92, passed away peacefully Sept. 13, 2012, at Diamond Willow Assisted Living, Cloquet, Minn.

Born Jan. 21, 1920, in Duluth, to Carl and Nella (Finell) Pedersen, Olive graduated from Superior Central High School and Duluth Business College.

In 1941, she married George Edward Caspers Jr. of Lake Bluff, Ill. This past January they celebrated 71 years of marriage.

In 1946, Olive and George settled in Lake Nebagamon on an old 80 acre farmstead, where they began planting Norway Pine seedlings. Over a thousand of those trees, many of them 50-plus feet high, can still be seen today.

Olive worked in a number of secretarial positions during her working career: on the East Coast through World War II; and in Superior for the Maynard Berglund Law Firm and First National Bank.

A dedicated partner to her husband George, Olive was a gentle, loving mother and grandmother, as well as an accomplished quilter, needle point artist and seamstress, an avid gardener and naturalist. She and George also shared a passion for music and had an extensive collection of records and sheet music. She was a member of the Lake Nebagamon Quilters and the American Legion Auxiliary.

Both she and George were very proud of their Norwegian heritage. Her father emigrated to the United States from the Lofoten Islands of Norway in 1905; George’s parents came from Norway around the same time.

Olive was preceded in death by her husband George who died in July of this year; an infant daughter, Sarah Ann; and sisters Lorraine Carlson, Carletta Sims and Marian Bumbal.

She is survived by her daughter Susan Louise (James) Banks of Maple; granddaughters Bridget Rose (Darrell) Landry of St Paul, Minn., and Georgia Louise (Matthew) Banks-Burgess of Minneapolis, Minn.; a sister, Joyce Aker of Washington; her sister- in-law, Helen Jayne Jorgenson of Park Ridge, Ill.; and several nieces and nephews.

The family would like to extend their sincere thanks and appreciation to the staff of Keystone Bluffs and Diamond Willow and to the St Luke’s Hospice team for the wonderful care and support they gave to Olive and George.

Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. memorial service at Downs Funeral Home Chapel, 1617 N. 19th St., Superior, on Saturday, Sept. 29, with the Rev. Andrew Ricci officiating.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Olive’s name to the Twin Ports Ministry to Seafarers, 2924 W. Third St., Duluth, MN 55806.

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