Mavis L Ohlson

Mavis Lorraine (Railsback) Ohlson, age 94, passed away Saturday, December 19, 2020 at Arapahoe Good Samaritan Nursing Home.  Mavis was born on October 1, 1926 on a farm in Norton County Kansas ½ mile from the Nebraska line to John “Lloyd” and Leona C. (Palmer) Railsback.  Mavis attended country school in Norton County through eighth grade.  Since there was no local high school, she then lived with her paternal Aunt Grace and her husband Lyle Young for four years while she completed her high school years in Joes, Colorado.  She graduated from high school in 1944 and then attended college in Greeley, Colorado where she received her teaching certificate.  She then applied for and obtained her Kansas State Teaching Certificate.  She taught for one year in the Country school in Lyle, Kansas.

On August 30, 1945 she was joined in marriage to Harvey LeMoine Ohlson.  They had four children:  Kenny Ohlson (deceased):  Lynn Ohlson; Terry Ohlson and Kathy (Ohlson) Vacura.  Mavis was an awesome mother, grandmother, aunt, etc.  She loved family and loved having family around. 

Mavis was an avid gardener and loved to teach others her gardening skills.  She was a great cook.  She could create an awesome meal out of minimal supplies.  She also crocheted, embroidered and belonged to a quilting club, when her children were younger.  She sewed much of the clothing for her family, as well.  Mavis was an extremely hard worker and her husband’s “hired hand” on the farm after the boys moved out.  When her daughter left home to go to college, Mavis got a “paying” job at Burn’s lab in McCook, Nebraska, where she helped make orthotics for shoes until she retired. 

Mavis was a master at Sudoku (which she did in ink); loved dancing, baseball, could rival any baseball historian and loved life in general.  She had a great sense of humor and could find positive in everything.  Even as her health declined and she was confined to a wheelchair, she continued to live life with a smile on her face.

Mavis is survived by two sons:  Lynn Ohlson (Atlanta, Georgia) and Terry Ohlson and wife Cindy (Russell, Kansas); one daughter, Kathy (Ohlson) Vacura (Arapahoe, Nebraska); 17 grandchildren; 36 great-grandchildren and 26 great-great-grandchildren; one sister, Imogene (Railsback) Davison (North Platte, Nebraska), one brother, Loren Railsback (Peoria, Arizona); many nieces, nephews and cousins. 

Mavis was preceded in death by her husband, Harvey Ohlson; son, Kenny; stepson, Dick; her parents, John “Lloyd” and Leona Railsback; six brothers: Lloyd Earl “Sonny”; Merl; Donald; Franklin Delano “Dee”; Harry Lee and Verlyn; four sisters:  Ila McIntosh, Dorothy Coler, Maxine Brown and Katherine Brunner. 

Funeral Services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at Lockenour-Jones Mortuary in Cambridge with Rev. Becky Saddler officiating.  Interment will follow services in the Bartley Cemetery.  Visitation will be held on Monday, December 28, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the mortuary in Cambridge.  A memorial has been established to RuralMED Hospice.  Online condolences may be left at lockenour.com.  Lockenour-Jones Mortuary is entrusted with arrangements.

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