Arliena Mae Collins Olmsted

Arliena Mae Collins Olmsted

April 22, 1932 - May 20, 2015

LONGMONT, Colo. -- On May 20, 2015, Arliena Mae Collins Olmsted passed on from this world into the next.

Born April 22, 1932, she was the second child of Horace and Nellie Collins of Beaver City, Nebraska. She grew up on a farm outside of town and met another young farmer, named Arlen Olmsted, in high school. Many thought is was destiny when Arlen and Arliena were wed on June 10, 1951. They went on to have three daughters and many years of happiness together.

Arliena was a wife, mother, working woman, a grandmother, and a friend to many. After having taught several years in Beaver City schools, the family later moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where she matriculated and earned her Master's in Education from University of Nebraska. Arliena continued her teaching career in the greater Lincoln area at Sacred Heart Elementary and Emerald's one-room schoolhouse with grades K-8. In addition, she was a Girl Scout leader and active in her daughter's lives.

In 1984, Arliena and Arlen moved to Washington State, where she continued her love of teaching and music in Yakima Valley, spending time in the Toppenish School District.

Arliena is survived by her loving husband, Arlen; their daughters, along with their husbands, Sylvia and Olan (Van) VanZandt of Omaha, Nebraska, Debra and Dr. David Jones of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and Denise and Gerrett Pape of Green Valley, Arizona; one grandson, SFC Jay Bennett of Fort Riley, Kansas; her brother, Horace Collins Jr. and his wife, Marilyn; along with numerous nieces and nephews. In addition, she was grandma to an extended family of grand and great-grandchildren in Colorado. She will be missed by all.

A private cremation will be in Colorado. Memorial services will be at the Presbyterian Church in Beaver City, Nebraska at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 3, 2015. In lieu of any flowers, any donations will go to the Washington Republican Women South Central Chapter via Howe Mortuary, 439 Coffman Street, Longmont, CO 80501.

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Howe Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.