- Date Of Birth: July 2, 1916
- Date Of Death: September 24, 2004
- State: Michigan
Waara, Olafia
Portland
Olafia “Ola” Waara, age 88, passed away on Friday, September 24, 2004. She was born on July 2, 1916 in a earthen home in rural Iceland, without electricity or running water. Her family got their fresh water from streams fed by snow melt off the glaciers. Her father was Sigurbjorn Gudmundsson and mother Lilja Kristen Arnadottir. She was very proud of her Viking heritage and could trace her ancestry to the original Viking settlers of Iceland. Ola met her husband, Robert “Bob” Waara, at a golf course in Iceland where he was stationed in the Army during WWII. Ola was a fierce competitor, and was Iceland’s women’s golf champion for a number of years during the early 1940’s. On December 7, 1944 she moved to the U.S. where she and her husband owned and operated the Portland Country Club from 1954-1974. Ola believed in unconditional love and forgiveness. She always believed in her children and grandchildren. She was a loyal, strong, supportive, and accepting friend. She also was was a skilled artist and craftsperson as shown by her hand- woven rugs. Education was vitally important to her, and she loved reading. Ola was also energetic, resolute, and a tireless worker. Children and pets loved her. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Robert Waara in 1975, and siblings, Helga, Johann, Olaf, Svava, and Finnur. She is survivied by one brother and one sister in Iceland, Steinar and Hildur; one sister-in-law, Catherine Jansen of Garden City, MI.; one son, Norman (Ileana) Waara of Sarasota, FL.; two daughters, Lilya Waara (Donald King) of East Lansing, MI. and Lola (Kendall) Leonard of Portland, MI.; four grandsons Geoff Waara of Mt. Dora, FL., Derek (Kelly) Pline of Bloomfield Township., MI., Rory Pline of Portland, MI., Benjamin Gyger serving in the U.S. Navy in Panama City, FL.; one step-granddaughter Jennifer Leonard of Kentwood, MI.; one great grandson Carson Pline of Bloomfield Township, MI.; many nieces and nephews. As per wishes, she will be cremated and her ashes will be scattered in a private ceremony at her former home in Iceland at a later date. Special thanks to her beloved neighbors, Mark and Toni Goodman, Pastor Ed Filter of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Portland, the staff at Nottingham Place, Hospice of Lansing, numerous friends and neighbors.
