Ilene Harward Olsen
1924 - 2019
Early Life: Ilene was born with blonde hair and blue eyes on November 16, 1924, to Ozias Harvey and Montez Bell Harward. She was the oldest daughter in a family of 13 children. She loved spending her young childhood in the farming town of Aurora, Utah, where “everyone was poor but they just didn’t know it.” She learned the importance of work early as she gathered eggs, churned butter, carried wood to the wood-burning stove and herded the cows two miles to pasture. In 1933, during the Great Depression, Ilene’s father was forced to move to Provo, Utah, in order to find work, leaving the family to manage the farm in Aurora. The following year, the city canal broke and flooded the farm. Montez wrote to Harvey and said “Come and get us. We will all go to Provo and starve together.” Ilene graduated from Lincoln High School, where she excelled on the debate team, choir, and was a member of the Tigerette drill team. She was also named valedictorian of her class and earned a scholarship to Brigham Young University. As a senior class officer, she organized class reunions for the next 75 years and maintained lifelong friendships with her classmates. During field day of Ilene’s 9th grade year, she became interested in Clyde Olsen. He was tall, dark and handsome; he reminded her of the movie star, Robert Taylor. As they got to know each other better, they would pick strawberries and raspberries during the afternoon, pool their money and go on a special 55-cent date: 10 cents for a gallon of gas, two 15-cent movie tickets and three 5-cent hamburgers. During their senior year, Pearl Harbor was attacked ushering in World War II.
Life’s Work | Service | Interests: Following graduation, Clyde went to work for Boeing Aircraft in California. He returned with a homemade ring, compliments of the Boeing Aircraft machine shop. On Labor Day, he proposed to Ilene at the Morning Glory Pool in Yellowstone National Park. In Ilene’s own words, “Thoughts of school and my scholarship at BYU vanished from my mind.” On December 16, 1942, Ilene and Clyde married and were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on April 27, 1944. They both went to work at Columbia Steel, helping to construct the Geneva Steel Mill in Orem, Utah. During the next few years, they constructed their first home, doing most of the work themselves. They even logged and cut their own lumber from the West Fork of the Duchesne River. After nine years of trying and a pause while Clyde served in the military in Korea, Ilene and Clyde were blessed with four children in five years with one more to come five years later. Over the next 25 years, Ilene and Clyde, while raising their family, founded several business together including: Olsen Building Specialties, Mountain States Steel, Western Warehouse and Utah Pacific Steel. Ilene’s accounting skills and her love of people were the wind beneath Clyde’s wings. She was a lifelong learner and spent many years contributing and participating in her children’s education by serving in the PTA. Later, she continued to encourage and support her grandchildren in their higher education pursuits. Ilene was the eternal optimist and her enthusiasm for life was contagious. Her joy came from nature, music and service. She observed and appreciated the beauty of God’s creations. She loved to watch the stars and visualize images in the clouds. Many of her loved ones remember her sing-alongs around the campfire. Over a 20-year period Ilene sang in The Harward Olsen Sisters Trio with IvaLee and Gae. They performed at firesides and provided comfort to others at hundreds of funerals. In her own words, Ilene said, “It was such a blessing to express my love and testimony of the Gospel through music, the universal language.” She was an avid BYU Cougar fan and has rarely missed a basketball game in the past 60 years. In 2002, Ilene found great joy as she participated in a humanitarian trip to Kenya with the purpose of supporting women in starting their own micro businesses. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ilene served throughout her life. She loved her many callings including: Primary chorister, Blazer Scouts leader, Primary president, Young Women, choir director, Relief Society president and temple worker. After Clyde’s passing in 1994, she also served a full time mission in Albuquerque , New Mexico. She loved everyone she met and was widely known as “Grandma Huggie”. Her Christlike gift of reaching out to others made them feel God’s love and empowered them to reach their full potential. Ilene Harward Olsen, whose lifelong creed was “Find joy in the journey”, passed through the veil January 31, 2019. She was 94.
Family Message: "Ilene loved to celebrate life each and every day! She spread joy each day with her dependable birthday phone calls to those on her list of over 1,500 friends and loved ones. She celebrated each new year by calling hundreds while ringing bells and banging pots and pans with childlike enthusiasm. No call ever ended without Ilene’s “I love you!” Today she is continuing to find JOY in her eternal JOURNEY as she celebrates with her eternal sweetheart, Clyde, her son, Brent, and other loved ones!"
Survived By: Her sons: Craig (Katrina), Clark (Claire), and Gary Olsen; her daughter, Julie (Jim) Byron; her daughter-in-law, Susanne (ElRay) Olsen Roper; 19 grandchildren; 50 great grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; two sisters: Eva Bell Smith, and Gae Olsen; and four brothers: Val (Fern), Kenneth (Margene), Ronald (Betty), and Terry (Gayle) Harward.
Preceded In Death By: Her husband; son, Brent; parents; four brothers and two sisters.
Service: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Chapel Location: Lindon, Utah
Arrangements: Walker Sanderson Funeral Home
Interment: East Lawn Memorial Park
Original Obituary Published By:
© Walker Sanderson Funeral Home | February 2019
Bio compiled by: Annie Duckett Hundley
1924 - 2019
Early Life: Ilene was born with blonde hair and blue eyes on November 16, 1924, to Ozias Harvey and Montez Bell Harward. She was the oldest daughter in a family of 13 children. She loved spending her young childhood in the farming town of Aurora, Utah, where “everyone was poor but they just didn’t know it.” She learned the importance of work early as she gathered eggs, churned butter, carried wood to the wood-burning stove and herded the cows two miles to pasture. In 1933, during the Great Depression, Ilene’s father was forced to move to Provo, Utah, in order to find work, leaving the family to manage the farm in Aurora. The following year, the city canal broke and flooded the farm. Montez wrote to Harvey and said “Come and get us. We will all go to Provo and starve together.” Ilene graduated from Lincoln High School, where she excelled on the debate team, choir, and was a member of the Tigerette drill team. She was also named valedictorian of her class and earned a scholarship to Brigham Young University. As a senior class officer, she organized class reunions for the next 75 years and maintained lifelong friendships with her classmates. During field day of Ilene’s 9th grade year, she became interested in Clyde Olsen. He was tall, dark and handsome; he reminded her of the movie star, Robert Taylor. As they got to know each other better, they would pick strawberries and raspberries during the afternoon, pool their money and go on a special 55-cent date: 10 cents for a gallon of gas, two 15-cent movie tickets and three 5-cent hamburgers. During their senior year, Pearl Harbor was attacked ushering in World War II.
Life’s Work | Service | Interests: Following graduation, Clyde went to work for Boeing Aircraft in California. He returned with a homemade ring, compliments of the Boeing Aircraft machine shop. On Labor Day, he proposed to Ilene at the Morning Glory Pool in Yellowstone National Park. In Ilene’s own words, “Thoughts of school and my scholarship at BYU vanished from my mind.” On December 16, 1942, Ilene and Clyde married and were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on April 27, 1944. They both went to work at Columbia Steel, helping to construct the Geneva Steel Mill in Orem, Utah. During the next few years, they constructed their first home, doing most of the work themselves. They even logged and cut their own lumber from the West Fork of the Duchesne River. After nine years of trying and a pause while Clyde served in the military in Korea, Ilene and Clyde were blessed with four children in five years with one more to come five years later. Over the next 25 years, Ilene and Clyde, while raising their family, founded several business together including: Olsen Building Specialties, Mountain States Steel, Western Warehouse and Utah Pacific Steel. Ilene’s accounting skills and her love of people were the wind beneath Clyde’s wings. She was a lifelong learner and spent many years contributing and participating in her children’s education by serving in the PTA. Later, she continued to encourage and support her grandchildren in their higher education pursuits. Ilene was the eternal optimist and her enthusiasm for life was contagious. Her joy came from nature, music and service. She observed and appreciated the beauty of God’s creations. She loved to watch the stars and visualize images in the clouds. Many of her loved ones remember her sing-alongs around the campfire. Over a 20-year period Ilene sang in The Harward Olsen Sisters Trio with IvaLee and Gae. They performed at firesides and provided comfort to others at hundreds of funerals. In her own words, Ilene said, “It was such a blessing to express my love and testimony of the Gospel through music, the universal language.” She was an avid BYU Cougar fan and has rarely missed a basketball game in the past 60 years. In 2002, Ilene found great joy as she participated in a humanitarian trip to Kenya with the purpose of supporting women in starting their own micro businesses. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ilene served throughout her life. She loved her many callings including: Primary chorister, Blazer Scouts leader, Primary president, Young Women, choir director, Relief Society president and temple worker. After Clyde’s passing in 1994, she also served a full time mission in Albuquerque , New Mexico. She loved everyone she met and was widely known as “Grandma Huggie”. Her Christlike gift of reaching out to others made them feel God’s love and empowered them to reach their full potential. Ilene Harward Olsen, whose lifelong creed was “Find joy in the journey”, passed through the veil January 31, 2019. She was 94.
Family Message: "Ilene loved to celebrate life each and every day! She spread joy each day with her dependable birthday phone calls to those on her list of over 1,500 friends and loved ones. She celebrated each new year by calling hundreds while ringing bells and banging pots and pans with childlike enthusiasm. No call ever ended without Ilene’s “I love you!” Today she is continuing to find JOY in her eternal JOURNEY as she celebrates with her eternal sweetheart, Clyde, her son, Brent, and other loved ones!"
Survived By: Her sons: Craig (Katrina), Clark (Claire), and Gary Olsen; her daughter, Julie (Jim) Byron; her daughter-in-law, Susanne (ElRay) Olsen Roper; 19 grandchildren; 50 great grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; two sisters: Eva Bell Smith, and Gae Olsen; and four brothers: Val (Fern), Kenneth (Margene), Ronald (Betty), and Terry (Gayle) Harward.
Preceded In Death By: Her husband; son, Brent; parents; four brothers and two sisters.
Service: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Chapel Location: Lindon, Utah
Arrangements: Walker Sanderson Funeral Home
Interment: East Lawn Memorial Park
Original Obituary Published By:
© Walker Sanderson Funeral Home | February 2019
Bio compiled by: Annie Duckett Hundley
Ilene Harward Olsen
1924 - 2019
Early Life: Ilene was born with blonde hair and blue eyes on November 16, 1924, to Ozias Harvey and Montez Bell Harward. She was the oldest daughter in a family of 13 children. She loved spending her young childhood in the farming town of Aurora, Utah, where “everyone was poor but they just didn’t know it.” She learned the importance of work early as she gathered eggs, churned butter, carried wood to the wood-burning stove and herded the cows two miles to pasture. In 1933, during the Great Depression, Ilene’s father was forced to move to Provo, Utah, in order to find work, leaving the family to manage the farm in Aurora. The following year, the city canal broke and flooded the farm. Montez wrote to Harvey and said “Come and get us. We will all go to Provo and starve together.” Ilene graduated from Lincoln High School, where she excelled on the debate team, choir, and was a member of the Tigerette drill team. She was also named valedictorian of her class and earned a scholarship to Brigham Young University. As a senior class officer, she organized class reunions for the next 75 years and maintained lifelong friendships with her classmates. During field day of Ilene’s 9th grade year, she became interested in Clyde Olsen. He was tall, dark and handsome; he reminded her of the movie star, Robert Taylor. As they got to know each other better, they would pick strawberries and raspberries during the afternoon, pool their money and go on a special 55-cent date: 10 cents for a gallon of gas, two 15-cent movie tickets and three 5-cent hamburgers. During their senior year, Pearl Harbor was attacked ushering in World War II.
Life’s Work | Service | Interests: Following graduation, Clyde went to work for Boeing Aircraft in California. He returned with a homemade ring, compliments of the Boeing Aircraft machine shop. On Labor Day, he proposed to Ilene at the Morning Glory Pool in Yellowstone National Park. In Ilene’s own words, “Thoughts of school and my scholarship at BYU vanished from my mind.” On December 16, 1942, Ilene and Clyde married and were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on April 27, 1944. They both went to work at Columbia Steel, helping to construct the Geneva Steel Mill in Orem, Utah. During the next few years, they constructed their first home, doing most of the work themselves. They even logged and cut their own lumber from the West Fork of the Duchesne River. After nine years of trying and a pause while Clyde served in the military in Korea, Ilene and Clyde were blessed with four children in five years with one more to come five years later. Over the next 25 years, Ilene and Clyde, while raising their family, founded several business together including: Olsen Building Specialties, Mountain States Steel, Western Warehouse and Utah Pacific Steel. Ilene’s accounting skills and her love of people were the wind beneath Clyde’s wings. She was a lifelong learner and spent many years contributing and participating in her children’s education by serving in the PTA. Later, she continued to encourage and support her grandchildren in their higher education pursuits. Ilene was the eternal optimist and her enthusiasm for life was contagious. Her joy came from nature, music and service. She observed and appreciated the beauty of God’s creations. She loved to watch the stars and visualize images in the clouds. Many of her loved ones remember her sing-alongs around the campfire. Over a 20-year period Ilene sang in The Harward Olsen Sisters Trio with IvaLee and Gae. They performed at firesides and provided comfort to others at hundreds of funerals. In her own words, Ilene said, “It was such a blessing to express my love and testimony of the Gospel through music, the universal language.” She was an avid BYU Cougar fan and has rarely missed a basketball game in the past 60 years. In 2002, Ilene found great joy as she participated in a humanitarian trip to Kenya with the purpose of supporting women in starting their own micro businesses. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ilene served throughout her life. She loved her many callings including: Primary chorister, Blazer Scouts leader, Primary president, Young Women, choir director, Relief Society president and temple worker. After Clyde’s passing in 1994, she also served a full time mission in Albuquerque , New Mexico. She loved everyone she met and was widely known as “Grandma Huggie”. Her Christlike gift of reaching out to others made them feel God’s love and empowered them to reach their full potential. Ilene Harward Olsen, whose lifelong creed was “Find joy in the journey”, passed through the veil January 31, 2019. She was 94.
Family Message: "Ilene loved to celebrate life each and every day! She spread joy each day with her dependable birthday phone calls to those on her list of over 1,500 friends and loved ones. She celebrated each new year by calling hundreds while ringing bells and banging pots and pans with childlike enthusiasm. No call ever ended without Ilene’s “I love you!” Today she is continuing to find JOY in her eternal JOURNEY as she celebrates with her eternal sweetheart, Clyde, her son, Brent, and other loved ones!"
Survived By: Her sons: Craig (Katrina), Clark (Claire), and Gary Olsen; her daughter, Julie (Jim) Byron; her daughter-in-law, Susanne (ElRay) Olsen Roper; 19 grandchildren; 50 great grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; two sisters: Eva Bell Smith, and Gae Olsen; and four brothers: Val (Fern), Kenneth (Margene), Ronald (Betty), and Terry (Gayle) Harward.
Preceded In Death By: Her husband; son, Brent; parents; four brothers and two sisters.
Service: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Chapel Location: Lindon, Utah
Arrangements: Walker Sanderson Funeral Home
Interment: East Lawn Memorial Park
Original Obituary Published By:
© Walker Sanderson Funeral Home | February 2019
Bio compiled by: Annie Duckett Hundley
1924 - 2019
Early Life: Ilene was born with blonde hair and blue eyes on November 16, 1924, to Ozias Harvey and Montez Bell Harward. She was the oldest daughter in a family of 13 children. She loved spending her young childhood in the farming town of Aurora, Utah, where “everyone was poor but they just didn’t know it.” She learned the importance of work early as she gathered eggs, churned butter, carried wood to the wood-burning stove and herded the cows two miles to pasture. In 1933, during the Great Depression, Ilene’s father was forced to move to Provo, Utah, in order to find work, leaving the family to manage the farm in Aurora. The following year, the city canal broke and flooded the farm. Montez wrote to Harvey and said “Come and get us. We will all go to Provo and starve together.” Ilene graduated from Lincoln High School, where she excelled on the debate team, choir, and was a member of the Tigerette drill team. She was also named valedictorian of her class and earned a scholarship to Brigham Young University. As a senior class officer, she organized class reunions for the next 75 years and maintained lifelong friendships with her classmates. During field day of Ilene’s 9th grade year, she became interested in Clyde Olsen. He was tall, dark and handsome; he reminded her of the movie star, Robert Taylor. As they got to know each other better, they would pick strawberries and raspberries during the afternoon, pool their money and go on a special 55-cent date: 10 cents for a gallon of gas, two 15-cent movie tickets and three 5-cent hamburgers. During their senior year, Pearl Harbor was attacked ushering in World War II.
Life’s Work | Service | Interests: Following graduation, Clyde went to work for Boeing Aircraft in California. He returned with a homemade ring, compliments of the Boeing Aircraft machine shop. On Labor Day, he proposed to Ilene at the Morning Glory Pool in Yellowstone National Park. In Ilene’s own words, “Thoughts of school and my scholarship at BYU vanished from my mind.” On December 16, 1942, Ilene and Clyde married and were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on April 27, 1944. They both went to work at Columbia Steel, helping to construct the Geneva Steel Mill in Orem, Utah. During the next few years, they constructed their first home, doing most of the work themselves. They even logged and cut their own lumber from the West Fork of the Duchesne River. After nine years of trying and a pause while Clyde served in the military in Korea, Ilene and Clyde were blessed with four children in five years with one more to come five years later. Over the next 25 years, Ilene and Clyde, while raising their family, founded several business together including: Olsen Building Specialties, Mountain States Steel, Western Warehouse and Utah Pacific Steel. Ilene’s accounting skills and her love of people were the wind beneath Clyde’s wings. She was a lifelong learner and spent many years contributing and participating in her children’s education by serving in the PTA. Later, she continued to encourage and support her grandchildren in their higher education pursuits. Ilene was the eternal optimist and her enthusiasm for life was contagious. Her joy came from nature, music and service. She observed and appreciated the beauty of God’s creations. She loved to watch the stars and visualize images in the clouds. Many of her loved ones remember her sing-alongs around the campfire. Over a 20-year period Ilene sang in The Harward Olsen Sisters Trio with IvaLee and Gae. They performed at firesides and provided comfort to others at hundreds of funerals. In her own words, Ilene said, “It was such a blessing to express my love and testimony of the Gospel through music, the universal language.” She was an avid BYU Cougar fan and has rarely missed a basketball game in the past 60 years. In 2002, Ilene found great joy as she participated in a humanitarian trip to Kenya with the purpose of supporting women in starting their own micro businesses. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ilene served throughout her life. She loved her many callings including: Primary chorister, Blazer Scouts leader, Primary president, Young Women, choir director, Relief Society president and temple worker. After Clyde’s passing in 1994, she also served a full time mission in Albuquerque , New Mexico. She loved everyone she met and was widely known as “Grandma Huggie”. Her Christlike gift of reaching out to others made them feel God’s love and empowered them to reach their full potential. Ilene Harward Olsen, whose lifelong creed was “Find joy in the journey”, passed through the veil January 31, 2019. She was 94.
Family Message: "Ilene loved to celebrate life each and every day! She spread joy each day with her dependable birthday phone calls to those on her list of over 1,500 friends and loved ones. She celebrated each new year by calling hundreds while ringing bells and banging pots and pans with childlike enthusiasm. No call ever ended without Ilene’s “I love you!” Today she is continuing to find JOY in her eternal JOURNEY as she celebrates with her eternal sweetheart, Clyde, her son, Brent, and other loved ones!"
Survived By: Her sons: Craig (Katrina), Clark (Claire), and Gary Olsen; her daughter, Julie (Jim) Byron; her daughter-in-law, Susanne (ElRay) Olsen Roper; 19 grandchildren; 50 great grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; two sisters: Eva Bell Smith, and Gae Olsen; and four brothers: Val (Fern), Kenneth (Margene), Ronald (Betty), and Terry (Gayle) Harward.
Preceded In Death By: Her husband; son, Brent; parents; four brothers and two sisters.
Service: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Chapel Location: Lindon, Utah
Arrangements: Walker Sanderson Funeral Home
Interment: East Lawn Memorial Park
Original Obituary Published By:
© Walker Sanderson Funeral Home | February 2019
Bio compiled by: Annie Duckett Hundley
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MARRIED DEC. 16, 1942
SEALED APR. 27, 1944
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