Geoff and Backy Glass

Marvel Olson Meyer (1913-1996), Evelyn Olson Larson (1917-1992) and Irene
Olson Glass (1919-2016) grew up on a farm outside of Edgeley, ND with their
parents Henry T. Olson and Bessie Houge Olson, and younger brother Otis.
Marvel was named by her father who cried at her birth, “What a little marvel she is!” The sisters attended the local one-room school and had an affinity for
learning. Evelyn was invited to skip a grade and Irene could complete arithmetic problems in the time it took the teacher to write the problem on the board. Both Evelyn and Irene worked their way through NDSU, which at the time was known as “The AC” (Agricultural College).
As the oldest daughter, Marvel was her mother’s mainstay in keeping house,
cooking for the family and hired hands, taking dinners to the fields, tending the garden, and other myriad obligations of farm women including driving the grain trucks to the elevator at harvest. Marvel married Herb Meyer and moved to
Tower City to farm. Marvel was known for selfless service to her community,
including teaching Sunday school for many years. In her role as 4-H leader for the Extension Service, she was so dedicated that she taught herself how to crochet
left-handed in order to teach her left-handed 4-Hers. She also taught generations of children to sew; many say they never would have learned if it hadn’t been for
“Mrs. Meyer.” Her daughters continue her legacy: Phyllis (Otterness) as a 4H leader and Pat (Vick) as a teacher.
Evelyn and Arnold Larson divorced in the 1940s, leaving Evelyn a single parent of Judith at a time when this was frowned upon. Nonetheless, Evelyn earned her master’s degree in Education and Business from the University of Colorado and her doctorate in Marketing from University of Minnesota. She joined the Business faculty of then Moorhead State College. Her daughter Judith (deceased) also earned her doctorate in directing at Yale. Evelyn was respected and remembered by hundreds of students whom she taught over the decades of her career. When she and Irene travelled all over the world after her retirement, Irene said that Evelyn’s former students came up to thank her in virtually every state and country they travelled to.
Irene completed her master’s degree in social work at St. Louis University and served in the Red Cross during WWII. After her marriage to Edwin Glass and the birth of her children Becky (retired sociology professor & assistant to the college president) and Geoff (a judge of Superior Court in CA), Irene found her way into the construction business and became the first licensed woman contractor in the state of VA, serving as designer, general contractor, and realtor for over 100 residences “no two alike” in the Washington DC area. In semi-retirement, she worked for Senator Milton Young of North Dakota in his office on Capitol Hill. Irene’s pursuit of new and exciting experiences led her to make homes in Falls Church, VA; Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Laguna Hills, CA; Des Moines, WA, and Geneseo, NY. While living in Florida, she worked with the Royal Palm Preservation Society and the Royal Poinciana Chapel on the historic restoration of the oldest house in Palm Beach (“Seagull Cottage”).