Ina Olsen

Ina is the seventh child and fifth daughter of Simeon Harmon Dunn and Anna Buletta Jensen Dunn. She was the first child to be born in the big cement block house since the family was living in the granary when Edgar was added to the family. Ina started school at the age of six. As school started on September 1st and Ina wouldn't be six until September 12, she worried for fear she wouldn't be allowed to go. She did get to go to school in spite of the fact that her cousin, Ila Jensen, informed the teacher Ina was only five years old. Gladys Pratt, who later married S. Dilworth Young of the first Counsel of Seventy was Ina's first grade teacher.

When Ina was about ten years old, she had typhoid fever. She was the only one in the family to contract this dreaded disease and confined to her bed for several weeks. She had to learn to walk again and almost lost all of her hair.

Ina was one of the best players on the girls' basketball team at Manassa high school. At that time, girls only played half court basketball.

After graduating from high school, Ina spent one year in Salt Lake City with Frances. She worked for a Mrs. Thompson as a companion for her two children. Edgar also worked for her and attended the University of Utah. The following year Ina attended Brigham Young University, but decided against continuing her education at that time.

Ina's first full-time job was as a cashier and bookkeeper with the Gordon Department Store in Alamosa. She also worked in Trinidad, Montrose, and Grand Junction. She earned $10 per week for six eight-hour days and paid board and room and bought her clothes.

In 1941, after World War II had begun, Ina went to Port Townsend, Washington, to visit her sister, Hazel and her family. While there, she went to work for the government at Fort Warden and later transferred to Camp White, Oregon near Medford. After the war ended in 1945, Ina returned home to Colorado. Bishop Fred Haynie asked her to go on a mission. Since Ina hadn't been too active in the church for several years, she declined. Later, however, she changed her mind and decided to go. This was the turning point in her life. She spent eighteen months in the Northern California Mission under the direction of Presidents German E. Ellsworth and Thomas Gardner. She was in the mission home in San Francisco for nine months. The last three months of her mission were spent in Ashland and Medford, Oregon, where she had lived during the war.

After Ina returned home, she attended BYU for the summer quarter and then taught Seminary in Manassa for one year. During this time, she served as Stake YWMIA President.

Ina and Wilma Jackson purchased a flower shop in LaJara, Colorado. When Wilma got married, Ina decided to return to college. She worked for the Alamosa County Welfare Department and attended classes at Adams State College in Alamosa.

In December 1955, Ina went to Los Angeles, California to be with Hazel Nite and her family. She was called as an ordinance worker in the Los Angeles Temple. Here she met John Henry Olsen. They were married November 21, 1956, in the Los Angeles Temple by President Benjamin Bowring.

The Olsens lived in Hollywood until April, 1957, when they moved to Lancaster, California, where they were owners of a funeral home and sick room supply business. In February, 1981, Henry and Ina moved to St. George, Utah, to be closer to the temple. They had been driving 150 miles round trip to the Los Angeles Temple each week for over twelve years.

Ina and Henry were very involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in southern California. Ina's callings in the church have been many. Among them are Young Women Advisor, genealogy teacher, Relief Society teacher and visiting teacher, Ward and Stake YWMIA President, Ordinance Worker, and Seminary teacher.

When Henry passed away on June 11, 1992, in St. George, Utah, Ina stayed. Ina passed away 29 June 2004 in Washington, Washington, Utah.

The majority of this article has been taken from The History of the Ancestors and Descendants of Simeon Harmon dunn and Anna Buletta Jensen, published privately by Vera Dunn Oliver June 1993.