Ronald William ‘‘Sonny’’ Workman

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Category: Obituaries

Created on Friday, 08 June 2012 07:18

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    A visitation for Ronald William “Sonny” Workman will be held 1-5 p.m. Saturday, June 9, at Prewitt Funeral Home.
    He died June 4 at Sitka  Community Hospital. He was 81.
    He was born June 21, 1930, in Spokane, Wash. When he was 5 his family moved to Salinas, Calif., where he graduated from Salinas High School.
    He joined the U.S. Navy in 1947, and was honorably discharged in 1952.
    He married Barbara Hurly in 1950, and in 1965 they came to Sitka.
    He loved the sea and fishing, and was a commercial fisherman for more than 40 years.
    His hobbies included shooting, reloading, and hunting. He was a member of the American Legion, the Sitka Elks Lodge and the National Rifle Association.
    He is survived by his wife, Barbara; sons and daughters-in-law David and Becky Workman of Sitka and Nathan and Cheryl Workman of Ray, Minn.; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
    He was preceded in death by a son, Matthew.
    In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Institute of Legislative Action, a branch of the NRA.

Published on June 8, 2012
Lois Marie Olson
Former Sitka resident Lois Marie Olson died May 6, 2012, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., with her family by her side. She was 79.
She was born in Baltimore, Md., Sept. 27, 1932, daughter of Dewey Taylor Wedderien and Effie Lena (Cheatham) Wedderien.
She grew up in Baltimore, and graduated from Sparrows Point High School, where she was on the basketball team.
She met B.G. Olson in 1952 when he was stationed with the U.S. Army in nearby Washington, D.C. When the Army later assigned him to Tacoma, Wash., Lois moved there, and they were married in 1953. Soon after marrying, they moved to Alaska, where they spent most of the rest of their lives together.
Lois and B.G. lived in Sitka from 1997 to 2010. They were members of the Elks Lodge and the Pioneers of Alaska, and attended First United Methodist Church. They also lived in Ketchikan, Juneau, Fairbanks and Saint Paul.
Lois was an elementary school librarian in Fairbanks and in the Pribilofs. Her family feels that her greatest legacy is the love of reading and books that she instilled in many children she taught during her career.
Lois enjoyed fossil and shell collecting, fishing, reading, crossword puzzles and basket weaving. In their later years, Lois and B. G. made long winter visits to Molokai, Hawaii.
Lois is survived by her husband of 59 years B.G. Olson, of Palm Beach Gardens; son Marc Olson, of Juneau and Merida, Mexico; daughter and son-in-law Tamara and Jeff Burton of Jupiter, Fla,; son and daughter-in-law Tim and Heidi Olson of Juneau; granddaughter Brittany Burton of Boston, Mass.; grandson Tyler Burton of Anchorage; sister and brother-in-law Josephine and Robert K. Nead of Lutherville, Md.; and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial will be held at a later date.
The Olson family may be contacted at P. O. Box 23022, Juneau, AK 99802, or by email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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