ChanSoon Olson, teacher in Minnesota and South Korea, dies at 73

ChanSoon Olson had a knack for remembering the smallest of details about her students, who also never forgot her. She would frequently be invited to high school graduation parties for those she taught as first- or second-graders. Sometimes, she would even dig through a storage box to find the art projects they completed a full decade earlier and present them at the party.

"She had a way of understanding exactly what students needed," said Jim Olson, her husband of 50 years.

ChanSoon Olson died at her home in Minneapolis on June 20, of mesothelioma. She was 73.

Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, ChanSoon Olson's family fled to another city, Daegu, during the Korean War. She earned her first bachelor's degree in English literature at a university in South Korea before working as a secretary and librarian in the Australian Embassy in Seoul.

That's where she met Jim. He was accompanying a friend to the embassy on that first visit, but he soon started borrowing books so he could continue visiting the librarian. He also started attending a venue for traditional Korean folk dances where ChanSoon — because of her English language skills — was an announcer. By the following year, the two were married.

"She was loving to all and beloved by all who met her," Jim Olson said.

ChanSoon Olson later received additional degrees in education: a bachelor's in elementary education from Augsburg University as well as two master's degrees, one in library science from the University of Minnesota and the other in curriculum and instruction from the University of St. Thomas. In 1997, she became a National Board-certified teacher. She also developed more than a dozen workshops, many of them focused on helping educators learn to teach linguistics.

She began her teaching career in Minnesota by teaching English as a second language, something she felt she did well because of her own experience learning English. She then taught first and second grade in St. Paul Public Schools before spending nine years as a Korean language instructor at an American high school on an air base in South Korea. She and Jim would spend most of the year in South Korea, before coming home to Inver Grove Heights for a couple of months in the summer.

The couple traveled to Australia, Guam and Bali. She also loved to cook, whether it was making traditional Korean recipes or trying fusion dishes, combining flavors from different cultures.

In her final days, she told her family that she was climbing a staircase to heaven, little by little, and that she could see a house full of angels.

According to her husband, she said, "I'm tired, I need to rest now. I'll wait for you. Goodbye."

Her funeral was livestreamed and viewed by family and friends in 28 locations around the world.

One of the songs during the service was "Jesus Loves Me." When the music started, ChanSoon Olson's 2-year-old grandson stopped squirming and sang the lyrics.

"Even at her funeral, she was impacting children," Jim Olson said, his voice breaking.

In addition to her husband, Olson is survived by her sons Jeffrey Olson of Shorewood and Jonathan Olson of Colorado Springs, Colo., as well as four grandchildren.