Carol Marie Sievers Olson, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, passed on to Heaven on July 26, 2024, during a short stay at Skagit Valley Medical Center in Mount Vernon. Characteristic of her unyielding toughness, she did not learn until after admittance to the hospital that she had recently suffered a heart attack. This triggered further health complications that led to a peaceful passing surrounded by family and prayers.

Born to Tordis Simonson and Howard Sievers on August 18, 1937, in Everett, WA, Carol was raised in Everett with her brothers Bill and Chris while considering herself a “Summer Cousin” for all the time they spent at the family cabin on Useless Bay on Whidbey Island. Her husband Robert (Bob) and Carol first met at a YMCA sock hop in Everett in 1953. It was love at first sight for Bob, though he admits that it took a bit longer for her to come to the same conclusion.

After graduating Armstrong Secretarial College in Berkeley, CA, Carol returned to Everett in 1956 to marry Bob before moving together to Palo Alto, CA. She worked as the executive secretary for the Stanford Football coach before moving back to Washington, serving as the assistant manager of the Pacific Lutheran Library while Bob completed his degree.

Shortly thereafter, their first daughter Kirsten was born. It was then that Carol found her true calling and dedicated herself to motherhood and homemaking. She continued her childhood passions of salmon fishing, golfing, and playing tennis as her nest grew to incorporate two more children, Derek and Erika. Carol’s children, husband, and eventually five grandchildren benefited immeasurably from her unmatchable skills in cooking, baking, and gardening.

In 1968, Carol and Bob built a home close to the original family cabin on Useless Bay. Her children became summer cousins themselves for all the wonderful memories they shared there in their early years and beyond. Once the kids were out of the house, Carol and Bob moved to Useless Bay full-time and resided there for more than 30 years. They spent countless dinners at her favorite spot, Useless Bay country club, which was built by her father, brothers and husband. With an empty nest, Carol enjoyed traveling the world, spending time in Asia, Europe and most recently Norway where she was able to connect with long-lost blood relatives.

Back home, Carol was a member of the Ester Moe Lodge #39 local chapter of the Daughters of Norway and provided invaluable assistance to their annual benefits for decades. Her philanthropic contributions extended to a variety of other non-profit organizations. Carol’s desire to give back to the community led her to help found the philanthropic Assistance League in Everett; she exercised her love for local history by serving on the Island County and South Whidbey Historical Society Boards; she served on the Trust Board of Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve; and, not least, she served as a Soroptimist.

Instrumental to her worldview, her unwavering compassion, and the love that she radiated to all she touched was deep and resolute faith in Jesus Christ. The Trinity Lutheran Church and the faith it helped foster were the cornerstone of hermarriage and family.Thechurch, which she quietly supported, often behind-the-scenes given her aversion to the spotlight, was like family to her. At home, she practiced her faith by taking turns reading daily devotionals with Bob each and every morning at the breakfast table, and kept Scripture at the forefront of her voracious reading habit.

Carol was many things to many people, but she was first and foremost a child of God. To name just a few of her other roles, she was a devoted wife, a world-class mother, a caring grandmother, a loyal friend, a charitable giver, and the backbone of multiple book clubs. To know Carol was to love her, to know her was to be loved by her, and to know her made one incredibly lucky. Nothing was beyond what she was willing to do for her family and friends. The void that she left here on Earth is impossible to fill, but there is peace to be found at the knowledge that she resides now and forever with our Lord and Savior.

Carol lives on through her husband Bob; older brother Chris; sister-in-law Patty Sievers (Bill); daughter Kirsten Wilson and her husband Kenzel; son Derek; daughter Erika Miller and her husband Rick; five grandchildren Jakob and Samantha Wilson, Kincaid and Grete Crile, and Rylee Miller; and her own grandmother’s Christmas cactus plant, which she tended for most of her life.