Public memorial for Sonja Olshove

TRAVERSE CITY — A public memorial service celebrating the life of Sonja Olshove, a beloved social sciences instructor at Northwestern Michigan College, will be held Sunday, Sept. 11 at the Hagerty Center on NMC's Great Lakes Campus. Visitation will be from 1–3 p.m. with funeral services beginning at 3 p.m.

NMC will provide a shuttle service, by Blue Lakes by the Bay, from the main campus Cedar parking lot to the Hagerty Center on a continual basis from 1–5 p.m. Service attendees are encouraged to take advantage of the shuttle to maximize the limited parking space at the Hagerty Center.

Olshove, 49, passed away unexpectedly at her Traverse City home on Sept. 4. The week before she had begun her twenty-sixth year teaching at the college. Her deep connection to Northwestern Michigan College began as a girl when she heard classroom stories from her father, longtime NMC instructor Roy Terdal. She then continued that passion for learning as an honors student at NMC, graduating in 1987. In 1991 she chose to pass along that gift to others by becoming a member of the faculty.

Her unique ability to spark inquisitiveness in her learners along with her genuine compassion for their well-being earned her the Imogene Wise Faculty Excellence Award in 2001 and 2013. She was only one of three instructors to be honored with that award twice.

Condolences and memories may be shared with family by posting on Olshove's obituary page. Her family has requested that in lieu of flowers or other gifts, please donate, as she did, to the NMC Foundation’s Scholarship Fund. It was her gift of choice because that fund goes directly to students.

Release date: September 7, 2016

For more information:

Diana Fairbanks
Executive Director of Public Relations, Marketing & Communications
dfairbanks@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1019