Sister Elizabeth (Paul Thomas) Olsen, BVM, 84, of Mount Carmel Bluffs, Dubuque, Iowa, died on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.
Committal service with natural burial was held on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. Burial was in the Mount Carmel Cemetery.
Sharing of Memories will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in the Mary Frances Clarke Chapel at Mount Carmel Bluffs followed immediately by a memorial Mass. Services may be livestreamed at bvmsisters.org/streaming.
Sister Liz was a hospital chaplain at St. Clare Hospital in Monroe, Wis., and St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Mont; and a parish minister in Wolf Point and Anaconda, both in Montana. She ministered as an elementary teacher at All Hallows, Sacramento and St. Gertrude, Stockton, both in California, St. George, Seattle, and St. Anthony, Missoula, Mont.
She was born on Dec. 11, 1941, in Butte, Mont., to Ralph and Monica (Prendergast) Olsen. She entered the BVM congregation July 31, 1960, from Immaculate Conception Parish, Butte, Mont. She professed first vows on Feb. 2, 1963, and final vows on Aug. 15, 1968.
She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Albert (Nancy) Olsen and Thomas James “Jim” Olsen; a sister Anne Marie Olsen (Albert “Sonny”) Semsak; and a sister-in-law Stephanie Olsen. She is survived by a brother Paul Olsen, Helena, Mont.; a sister-in-law Cleo Olsen, Butte, Mont.; nieces; nephews; cousins; and the Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she shared life for 66 years.
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