Laura Marie Seager

Laura Marie Seager, 66, passed away peacefully with her family by her side in Clarkdale, Arizona.

In the last few years, Laura had some declining health issues. In June 2022, Laura and her family made the decision to move Laura back to her “favorite state” of Arizona to be closer to family and have support and assistance in daily care. 

Laura moved into a private group home overlooking the red rocks of Sedona and Mingus mountain. While it is always difficult to make this kind of a decision, she was happy. Her cousin Bonnie and her husband Bob were there daily. She had new friends that would play Banannagrams and Rummikub. She painted rocks with Bonnie’s grandchildren. She spent hours laughing and reminiscing with family and visitors. And she listened. What a great listener she was and she made an impact on the other residents and staff in her short time there. 

Laura was born February 22, 1956, the oldest of three children to Herb (deceased) and June (Mackey) Seager. She spent her younger years in Rockville Maryland and attended Robert E. Peary high school. Following high school, she went on to study biology at Virginia Tech, and minored in dance. She then continued her MA biology studies at Northern Arizona University. A state that she would fall in love with and eventually call home. She spent her career advocating for fellow women biologists. She always felt she had to prove herself over and over in the field, and did not want other women to feel that way. 

Laura spent her career with the National Park Service as a Park Interpreter in a number of different locations, with a large portion of that time at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is there that she met and married her husband Oly Olson. The stories of their wedding day are still told over and over. Her dress made of curtain material because that was what was available. Grandma Esther finishing the dress the morning of the wedding, her Dad taking a mule ride that morning and then barely able to make it down the aisle, the announcement that she was, and will always be Laura Seager (not Mrs. Olson), and of course, the monsoon type rainstorm during the reception that nearly took down the tent. It was a day full of adventure, laughter, love, family time and lots of spunk.  This day embodied the traits that Laura lived by. Loving nature and living in the woods, gave Laura a completely different perspective of life. One that we all learned from. From working hard to playing hard, her stories were always ones you wanted to hear. From the bear that visited their home for dinner, to the myriad of animals she took in and loved, to forest fires and stupid things people did, there was a lesson in each one. And always a good laugh with her infamous “eye rolls”. 

Laura and Oly resided at the Grand Canyon until Oly's retirement. They then moved to the small coastal town of Newport, Oregon where they made new friends and enjoyed their retirement years. 

Laura loved everything about the outdoors, plants, trees, animals of all kind and especially birds. When she would visit Ohio to see family, she would take all the young cousins on a hike. They always talk about how they loved everything she knew, until she would stop and go into great detail about a flower, plant, tree, etc. They never had any idea you could know so much about moss! 

Laura also had a passion for cooking. She loved preparing food for company and never went anywhere without at least an appetizer and a bottle of wine. And she loved a good spicy tuna sushi roll! Family holiday gatherings were her favorite, especially the big Seager thanksgiving. A family tradition for as long as we can remember  as kids. 

The entire Seager family would spend days eating, shopping, playing football etc. all of us cousins remember that as a very favorite time. Laura’s wish was to have everyone together for another turkey day. It was all she talked about in the last several weeks of her life…. So we worked hard to make this happen. Turkey day in Sept. The evening before she passed  she was able to share with us what had to be in on the menu. Cousin Mike’s turkey and dressing, cousin Joan’s mashed potatoes with way TOO much butter, her watermelon salad, and uncle Dick’s green beans. So the cooking began. 

While we were so sad to say goodbye to Laura before our special day, we celebrated as she would have wanted us too. We laughed… we cried… we ate till we were too full to move.

Blessed to have shared in her life is husband, Oly Olson (deceased), parents Herb (deceased) and June Seager, sister Susan Seager (Michele), brother David Seager (Kris), nieces Samantha, Jonathan (deceased), Jessica, Jenna (Lamar and great nephew Jameson) and Jason. 

A wonderful niece, cousin  and friend to many. 

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 26, 2022, at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. 

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