Genevieve Olsen Miller, 103, died February 16, 2023, in Canyon, Texas. She was born May 4, 1919, on the family homestead, Hovengaard, in the Oslo community in Hansford County, Texas. Her parents were Gustav Adolph Olsen, Jr. and Bergit Helene Jensen Olsen. She was the first child, and she was followed by three sisters and three brothers.
Graveside services will be Friday, April 21, 2023, at 2:00 pm at West Park Cemetery in Hereford, Texas. A memorial service and Celebration of Life will be conducted on Saturday, April 22, 2023, beginning at 11:00 am at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, 3500 Bowie Street, Amarillo, Texas. The Rev. Leah Lawson will conduct the service, and Brooks Funeral Directors of Canyon will handle the arrangements.
Genevieve’s generation experienced the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, World War II, the Cold War, the Space Race, and the Internet Age. As a senior in Gruver High School, Genevieve participated in President Franklin Roosevelt’s National Youth Administration program, which assisted students in earning money to attend college. She received twenty-five cents an hour to listen to students’ book reports. She had read most of the books in the library and already had a reputation as an avid reader. After high-school graduation, Genevieve attended the Lutheran College in Clifton, studying and working her way through to obtain an Associate’s Degree. She then began teaching at Lakeview, a school in the northern part of the Texas Panhandle. In 1942, Genevieve accepted a teaching position at the school in Dawn, Texas in Deaf Smith County. There, she met Herbert Hill Miller, and they married on March 10, 1943. Herbert and Genevieve were married for thirty years until his death in March 1973.
From 1943 to 1965, Genevieve devoted time to family, community, Church and supporting Herbert’s farming activities and his involvement in community leadership positions. She was a member and a president of the Dawn Music Club, a 4-H Club leader, school Room Mother, Red Cross volunteer, a teacher for Confirmation classes, and a Sunday School teacher for the adult class at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, which she joined in 1950. During these years she and Herbert opened their home to family and friends for luncheons, dinners, and Bridge parties, which were popular in Dawn during the war years and after. As parents, they made the holidays special for their children with traditions such as delivering homemade Christmas candy to neighbors and hosting holiday gatherings in their home.
Beginning in July 1965, Genevieve began working outside the home as Executive Secretary of the Deaf Smith County Chapter of the American Red Cross. In this role, she also served as Secretary of the annual United Way campaign. She continued her involvement in the church by teaching and representing the Panhandle District on the Northern Texas and Louisiana Synod Board. She wrote and compiled Called To Serve, a history of the Tri-County Chapter of the American Red Cross. Copies of the book are in the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. and the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum in Austin.
In 1973, Genevieve entered West Texas State University to complete her Bachelor’s Degree, which she received in 1981. She eagerly anticipated every semester with courses in the liberal arts and sciences. In 1977 she was appointed Postmaster of the USPS Post Office at Dawn. She served the postal patrons of the Dawn community for seventeen years, retiring in 1994.
Community service was a hallmark of her character along with her commitment to advancing the causes of peace, justice, and understanding among all people. Her determined activism in Clergy and Laity Concerned (CALC) provided Genevieve opportunities to join with a nationwide, multi-racial network to bring moral, ethical, and religious values to bear on problems of political, economic, and social injustice.
As a member of the Norwegian Society of Texas, Genevieve honored her heritage. She was a spirited folk dancer with the group, and also enjoyed preparing Norwegian foods. In 1984, she traveled to Norway where she met her cousins in the Land of the Vikings.
Throughout these later years of her life, Genevieve continued to host gatherings in her home, including grass-patch parties for many of her friends from Hereford, Canyon, Amarillo, Dawn, and other locales. Drawing upon her enjoyment of rural life, the cycles of Nature, and her indomitable spirit and faith, Genevieve remained living independently at Millerby until age ninety-nine. She appreciated immensely the working relationship she had with Wayne and Melody Betzen, who managed and directed the farming activities at Millerby for forty-nine years.
Genevieve was preceded in death by her husband, her father and mother, three sisters, three brothers, two stepdaughters, and two stepsons. She is survived by her daughter, her two sons and their wives, four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, six step- grandchildren, eight step-great-great grandchildren, and one step-great-great-great-grandchild.
Genevieve’s family expresses their gratitude to the staff of Hudson House in Canyon and the staff of Enhabit Home Health & Hospice in Amarillo for their kind and loving care for Genevieve until the end. The family is grateful to Genevieve’s doctors, who include Dr. Jon Haddad, Dr. Edward Ysasaga, Dr. Brian Wilson, and Dr. Robert Reddix, for their excellent care and attention. In addition, the family also appreciates the doctors, nurses, and staff of Northwest Texas Hospital for their immediate care and ongoing concern for her during numerous ER visits and hospital stays. Finally, special thanks to the nurses and staff of Family Medicine Center-Canyon and Dr. Larry McAfee for always taking care of Genevieve for over 30 years and assisting the family during the hospice stage of her care.
The family suggests memorials may be made to the Helping Hand Fund at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Doctors Without Borders, or Heifer International.