Joyce Edith Oleen

Joyce Oleen, age 87, of Milaca, died, Monday, March 15 at Milaca Elim Home. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, March 18 at 2 PM at First Baptist Church in Milaca with Rev. Adrian Bolt and Rev. Tom Sahlstrom officiating. Interment will follow at Borgholm Cemetery near Bock. Visitation will be from 5 - 8 PM on Wednesday at Peterson-Johnson Funeral Home in Milaca and 1 hour prior to the service at the church on Thursday. Joyce Edith Johnson was born on July 24, 1922 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Minneapolis to Erlan Sanford Johnson and Astrid Amelia Hellerstedt Johnson. She was educated in Minneapolis and Milaca, graduating from Milaca High School. She was united in marriage to George Oleen on Oct. 11, 1941, at the First Baptist Church in Milaca. After they were married, they farmed in Hayland Township near Bock. They moved to St. Paul in 1950. Two years later, they returned to Hayland Township where they resumed farming. Joyce worked over the years at Milaca Mills, Fingerhut in Princeton, Elim Home in Milaca, and providing foster care for scores of children for nearly a decade at the Timberlane Group Home, which she and George opened. She also spent many wonderful years as a volunteer driver for Mille Lacs County. George and Joyce spent their final years together living in Milaca, Country Manor in Sartell, and eventually the Milaca Park Apartments. Joyce’s husband, George, died on Feb. 24, 2007 after sharing a 68-year journey hand in hand. She entered the Milaca Elim Home earlier this winter. A long-time member of the First Baptist Church in Milaca, Joyce enjoyed spending time in prayer for her family, weaving rugs (from George’s overalls), quilting, baking, canning, playing Scrabble, and bird watching. She was especially proud that - as an 80-something-year-old - she learned how to use the computer, e-mail, and operate her own cell phone. Joyce is survived by her children Gary (Jane) of St. Cloud; Bonnie (Roger) Young of Sartell; Barbara (Lester) Millam of Milaca; Richard (Nhung) of Bethesda, Md.; Gayle (Paul) Ash of Milaca; daughter-in-law Mary Oleen of Milaca; 15 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; brother and sister-in-law Wayne and Helen Molin of New Brighton; nieces, nephews, and many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; son Stuart; grandson Thomas Young; son-in-law Daniel Nelson; and sisters Luverne Nelson and Lois Larson.