Dean W. Olson, of Montevideo, died on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at the Luther Haven Nursing Home in Montevideo at the age of 88. Memorial services will be conducted on Monday, June 16, 2008 at 1:30 P.M. at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church of Baxter with Rev. Theresa Kraft officiating. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be Sunday from 4 - 6 P.M. with a prayer service at 5:45 P.M. at the Anderson Funeral Home in Montevideo. Dean Winfield Olson was born on June 5, 1920 in Leenthrop Township of Chippewa County, MN to Elmer and Florence (Norman) Olson. He was baptized at Leenthrop Baptist Church near Maynard and graduated from Montevideo High School in 1938. He served in the US Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946, flying 148 missions as a P-38 Fighter Pilot in the South Pacific as a member of "the greatest generation". On May 10, 1947 he was united in marriage to Jane E. Olson at Trinity Lutheran Church in Dawson, MN. He lived and farmed in Camp Release Township until retiring in 1992 and moving into Montevideo in 1999. He was a long-time member of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church of Baxter where he had been on the building committee and served as council president along with many other leadership roles . He was a member of the VFW and American Legion Posts in Montevideo and liked to attend the Tuesday afternoon veterans coffee group. He had served on the Montevideo Creamery Board, Watson Farmer's Elevator Board, Lac qui Parle District #2 School Board, Lac qui Parle Soil and Water Conservation Board, Madison Health Care Board and was the Lac qui Parle County Conservation Farmer of the year in 1979. He loved farming, the outdoors, cats and dogs, reading and a "ride around the lake" to take in the geese at the Lac qui Parle Refuge. His pride and joy were his family, although being a stoic Swede, he would never boast about them to others. He is survived by his wife, Jane; three children: Dr. Dan (and Carol) Olson of Warren, OH; Paul (and Kathy) Olson of Dawson, MN and Karen J. Olson of Roseville, MN; a granddaughter, Froya Olson of Dawson, MN; a sister, Alice (and Jack) Pearson of White Bear Lake, MN and a number of nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers: Norman and Rollan Olson; and by a sister, Marilyn McQueen.