The People of the Park…

Caroline Olson Lyngen

By

Dale Dauten

First off, thank you, Gayle Gilmore. It was Gayle who suggested we write about Caroline Olson Lyngen, dropping us a few tantalizing facts about her life, and yes, Gayle had it right: it’s rare that someone has such an admirable career and engrossing personal life.

THE EARLY YEARS & THE “WOMAN-KILLER”

Caroline’s life began in a way that many Resort residents will identify with: on a farm and in Minnesota. Their family farm was outside Dexter, MN, and she describes her early education as being in “a one-room school with an outdoor privy.” Then it was on to high school in Austin, with three hours a day on the bus. Her early life was old-school in another way, too: she was engaged at 16. It was a Christmas Eve and while her grandmother insisted, “She’s too young, she’s too young!,” they married soon after graduation.

Together with her husband, Raymond Olson, they settled in Austin, eventually had five children, and followed Ray’s parents into careers in boarding care. Caroline explained this was a time when much elder care took place in the homes of single women, often older themselves, perhaps a widow coming from life on the farm. But that was changing with increased government oversight and licensing requirements; the business was becoming more professional, and that led Caroline into nursing training. Their care business evolved to the point where the couple bought an old mansion, once owned by the Hormel estate, and moved in, starting with 40 residents. Raymond and Caroline bought the mansion despite one of the current owners (no longer Hormels), mother to 15 children, pulling Caroline aside and confiding,

“You don’t want this house – it’s a woman-killer.”

But the business thrived and they expanded the mansion, reaching a resident count of 120.

Even with a substantial business and with five children, Caroline found time to be active in Eastern Star, affiliated with the Masons, and an organization that boasted of being the largest fraternal organization in the world.

After years in various leadership positions, she rose to the title of Worthy Grand Matron of the Grand Chapter of the State of Minnesota.

And, with all that going on, she became a pilot.

CAROLINE THE PILOT

Husband Raymond was a pilot and with the two frequently flying together, he said to her one day, “If you’re flying with me and something happens, you should know how to set it down.” And that started her: In her late-twenties, she got a pilot’s license. Then, still not feeling comfortable as a pilot, she got a commercial license. Not comfortable in bad weather, she got her instrument rating. Then, she got a sea plane rating. Why sea planes? The couple had purchased a lake house, one near Hackensack, Minnesota.

By that time, the couple had their own plane and Raymond was ready for a different career. They leased their business and he started rebuilding aircraft and doing real estate investing.

(Photo: a Piper Aztec, similar to the one the Olsons owned)

Caroline didn’t just fly around Minnesota, she became part of an organization founded by female pilots in 1929 called the Ninety-Nines, a name suggested by Amelia Earhart to reflect the number of charter members. (There are now over 6,000 members.)

Caroline even flew in a Powder Puff Derby, a race of 152 pilots spanning three days, from Calgary to Baton Rogue.

Along with Raymond, she began traveling even farther. That started after she began to have some lingering medical issues and the doctors said, “I can either put you in a hospital or you can take a vacation.” So, a new tradition: the couple would take Februarys off and travel. They made multiple trips to Mexico and even across South America, as well as island-hopping from Trinidad to Florida.

But those idyllic times together came to an abrupt end in 1981: Raymond was killed in a plane crash at their home’s airstrip. The cause of the crash was never determined.

Not only did Caroline lose her husband but also her business partner. They had just bought, a week before, a different nursing home. She kept that going for another ten years. And she continued to fly, keeping her license for another decade.

THE NEXT CHAPTER

Caroline eventually remarried, having fallen in love with a retired IBM man, Robert Lyngen. Together they build an apartment building onto the nursing home and ran it until they both retired. They sold their home and built a new one on Webb Lake.

It was during those retirement years that Robert and Caroline bought a motorhome. They spent a winter in Texas, but that didn’t take. So they tried Tucson, and then one day she described what transpired, “Let’s go to the Phoenix area. We visited Gold Canyon and it was beautiful out there and along the main street they had green grass. That was all it took for Robert – he loved a good lawn.” They rented, then bought, then rented.

Robert passed a few years ago, but Caroline could say of her two marriages, “I lucked out twice. Between the two, I ended up being married for 64 years.”

THE RESORT

After Robert died, Caroline wanted to get away for the winter and had a friend living at The Resort. She rented there a few years. And now spends time with her daughter, Dawn and Dawn’s husband, Tony, at their park model at The Resort.

(Photo: Caroline with her daughter and son-in-law, Dawn and Tony Peterson)