Donald N. Olson, age 78, of rural North Huron, died Sunday, September 24, 2006, at Prairie Lakes Healthcare at Watertown, SD. His funeral service will be at 2:00 PM Thursday, September 28, at the First Baptist Church with Rev. Lew Christensen officiating. Burial will be at Riverside Cemetery with Military Rites by the Huron Veterans Council. Friends may call Wednesday afternoon and evening and Thursday morning at the Welter Funeral Home or prior to the service at the church Thursday afternoon. There will be a Prayer Service at 7:00 PM Wednesday evening at the funeral home with the family present from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Donald Norman Olson, was born on July 3, 1928, to Oscar and Lillian (Rude) Olson on a farm northwest of Huron. After attending grade school he attended West Central Minnesota School of Agriculture in Morris, MN., where he graduated in 1947. Don worked on the family farm until February 9, 1951, when he entered the U.S. Army and served in the Korean Theater during the Korean War. After his honorable discharge on November 8, 1952, he returned to the family farm where he has lived and worked until the time of his death. He was united in marriage to Betty Marone on June 12, 1951 in Huron, SD. He began farming in 1948, and during his time in the U.S. Army, his brother, Art, took care of his farming for him. Don has been engaged in diversified farming on the same place for 50 years. Over those years, Don has managed an average of 1200 acres, 100 stockcows, and 30 sows in a farrow to finish operation. There have been some lean years, but those have been overshadowed by the good. Don has always tried to practice and promote effective and responsible farming methods. Don has supported younger farmers in their endeavors and helped his son, Kirk, and now a grandson, Mike Hunter, get started in the business. Don has been active in many farm and community organizations throughout his career. Don has been and is on several boards, including the REA Board of several years; the Mid Dakota Rural Water System Board where Don has been instrumental in helping get good quality water to the people of this area; the SD Farm Bureau where Don has helped with such things as Ag in the Classroom, grade school farm tours that enhance the understanding that children have of farm production, the farm life-style and the relations between farmers and the rest of the population. He has also helped with promotional events at state and national Farm Bureau Conventions. The time that Don spent on the Huron Chamber Ag Committee was important to him as he felt that an understanding between farm and town dwellers was very important. Don has traveled to the state and national capitals to encourage our legislative members to support the farmers of our country. Don saw these trips as a way to inform and be informed. Some of the programs has rallied for include REA and Rural Water Development. As stated above, has been involved in and held office in the following organizations: REA (Dakota Energy) with several years as a board member; Mid Dakota Rural Water as a board member; SD Stock Growers; Beadle County and SD Pork Producers where he held several offices; Beadle County and SD Grange; Beadle County and SD Farm Bureau where he was county president; Beadle County 4-H Leaders Association; 10-year member of 4-H in Beadle County; Beadle County Crop Improvement Association where he served as president; Fairfield Township Board Clerk; Boy Scouts of America as a leader; Huron Chamber Ag Committee; SD Wheatgrowers; First Baptist Church of Huron where he has been a member since 1940 and a trustee; Beadle County Rural Fire Board; SD 4-H Foundation; and the James Valley Co-op as a board member. Throughout the years Don has been recognized for his contributions to agriculture and his community. Awards, honors and recognition receive by him include: 1949 - SD 4-H Achievement Award and attended 4-H Club Congress in Chicago; 1954 - Youth Delegate to the National Grange Convention in Seattle; 1959 Dekalb National Sorghum Yield Contest (4010.65 pds. per acre); 1963 Beadle County Outstanding Young Farmer, 3rd place SD Outstanding Young Farmer; 1964 Champion Pen Charlais Cross steer Calves; listed in the 1965 edition of Outstanding Young Men of America; 1972 2nd place Beadle Conservation District Soil and Moisture Achievement Contest; 1981 SD Commercial Charlais Breeder of the Year; 1984 Daily Plainsman Freedom Award in Agriculture and Certificate of Appreciation from the State of SD Office of Volunteerism; 2001 - inducted into the South Dakota Cooperative Hall of Fame. Don has enjoyed his years of farming, and truly appreciates the help that he has received from others to achieve his goals. Along side him in this farming adventure has been his wife of 50 years, Betty of Huron; 4 children, Cherry and Willis Hunter of Sioux Falls, Dawn and John Coughlin of Huron, Kirk of rural Huron, and Carol and Don Vancura of Barnesville, Minnesota; grandchildren Matt and Angela Hunter, Mike and Cass Hunter, Marcus Hunter, C.J. Coughlin, Amanda Coughlin, Addrienne Vancura, Holly Vancura, and Eric Vancura; four great-grandchildren Cala, Jakeb, Devin and Ella Hunter; one sister Dorothy Olson; brother-in-law, Dale Biggerstaff; sister-in-law, Maxine Olson; and a host of relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Connie May Olson; his parents; three brothers, Robert, Arthur and Harlan Olson; one sister, Eleanor Biggerstaff; two sisters-in-law, Lavon Olson and Ardis Olson; and a brother-in-law, Gordon Olson.