Geneva Gale Olson-Burton, Salina
November 26, 1925 - April 12, 2022
Geneva Gale Olson-Burton, 96, died April 12, 2022, in Salina, Kansas. She was born in Ellsworth, Kansas, 10 miles south on a farm, to Dick and Ella (Hoffman) Rathbun, on November 26, 1925.
She went to school in a one-room schoolhouse, which was across the road from her house. She graduated from Lorraine High School in 1943 from there she moved to Salina.
She worked at the Lamer Hotel for three years then moved back to the farm in Ellsworth. In 1951, she moved to Lyons, Kansas with her parents. She worked in a little café for three years where she met and married Raymond D. Olson of Chase, Kansas, on June 3, 1955.
They had three children: Ron, Kathy, and Rick. The couple moved to Salina, Kansas in May, 1966 where Gale ran a day care in her home for 25 years. She retired in 1991. She was also a member of a Birthday Club from 1984-2009.
July 12, 1991, Gale married Thomas D. Burton in Salina.
She is preceded in death by her two husbands, Raymond Olson and Thomas D. Burton (2008); parents; brothers and their spouses, Delbert “Deb” Rathbun (Hazel), Merle “Shorty” Rathbun (Wilma), Donald “Doc” Rathbun (Madge), and Clyde “Hap” Rathbun (Loneva); one bonus stepdaughter, Betty Taylor; two sisters, Ethyl Rathbun Rizor “Sis” (Glenn), and Maxine “Mic” Rathbun Clifton (A.D); brother-in-law David Thornton; daughter-in-law Connie Olson; and a special friend, since high school, Billie Langley.
Gale is survived by one sister, Mary Jane “Janie” Thornton, Las Vegas, Nevada, three children, Kathy Olson, Salina, Ron Olson, Salina, and Rick Olson, Salina, five bonus children from her second marriage, Faye Smith, Bill Burton, Cindy Johnson, and Janice Davenport, grandchildren Jake Olson, Katie Olson, Amy Olson, Shaelynn Ballard (Blake), Claire Olson, and Grace Hoge, great-grandchildren Greyson Bell, Easton Bell, Kinzley Ballard, Stella Ballard, Britton Ballard, Bennet Ballard, and Nara Olson.
On Thursday, April 21, 2022, the family will have a visitation tea at the Roselawn Heights Memorial Chapel from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Funeral services will be Friday, April 22, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at the Roselawn Heights Memorial Chapel, 1920 E. Crawford St., Salina, Kansas.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for memorials to be sent to the Olson- Burton Family in care of Roselawn Mortuary at 1920 E. Crawford St., Salina, Kansas.
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