Rachel's Family

Len & Mary Lou Matejcek

Jennifer Matejcek

Jennifer is Rachel's older sister. She currently is living at the Matejcek Manor in Bloomington.

Jennifer works as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) at the Minnesota Masonic Home in Bloomingon. She graduated from Hennepin Technical College in May 2002.

Jennifer also attends West Oaks Community Church, where she works with the school-age girls program on Wednesday nights. Other interests of hers include crocheting and watching movies. She also has two pets (part of the Matejcek menagerie mentioned above: Ivy the cat and Hattie the cairn terrier.)

For more pictures of Jennifer, go to her photo album.

Emily Matejcek

Emily is Rachel's younger sister. She lives in Eagan with her son Sam. She also has two step daughters from a previous marriage, Emily and Molly.

Emily co-founded Mobile Entertainment LLC, a Minneapolis-based Segway rental and guided tour company in 2003 and now works at Thomson West in their corporate Westlaw department.

A few other residents share their home with Emily & Sam: Lois, a Cairn Terrier; Emmet, a parakeet; Fee Fee, a rat, and tropical fish.

For more pictures of Emily, go to her photo album.

Emily (Claire) Neuenschwander

Emily is 16 and drives a blue convertible, plays lacrosse and snowboards, likes to hang out with friends, and does fantastic in school.

For more pictures of Emily, go to her photo album.

Molly Neuenschwander

Molly is 14, plays volleyball, snowboards, enjoys chatting on AIM and spending time with friends. She is in a gifted program in school where she takes classes many grades ahead of her age.

For more pictures of Molly, go to her photo album.

Sam Neuenschwander

Sam is 4 years old. He goes to preschool and is looking forward to kindergarten next year. He likes Shrek, playing police officers, swimming and telling stories.

For lots more pictures of Sam, go to his website, or visit Sam's photo album on our website.

Grandma Hogen (1916-2004)

This photo is of Rachel with her grandma Jean Hogen.

Jean Hogen was born in 1916 and passed away in September 2004. She was married for 51 years to Louis Hogen, who passed away in 1992. Lou and Jean had four children: Kathy, Roger, Mary Lou, and Doug.

Grandma Hogen lived in the house on the East side of St. Paul where she and Louis raised their children. She grew up in St. Paul and lived there her whole life. Well into her 80s, she traveled regularly to visit her children and grandchildren in Alaska, Montana, and Washington state.

Grandma Hogen was a devout Catholic who prayed regularly for all of her children and grandchildren. Although advanced in years herself, she still took the time to volunteer at the nursing home where she served for over 25 years!

We miss Grandma Hogen now that she's gone, but we are glad that she is now in the presence of her Lord Jesus in heaven.

Jeff's Family

Ross & Karin Olson

Jeff's parents Ross & Karin Olson have been married since 1970. They raised four children (Jeff, Susan, Jason, and Stacy), and are the proud grandparents of three grandsons (Christopher, Patrick, and Aizec, and one granddaughter, Laura.).

Ross and Karin served as missionaries with the Evangelical Free Church Mission in Hong Kong from 1972 to 1980. Ross worked as a doctor at Evangel Hospital there.

Upon their return from Hong Kong in 1980, Ross began working at Group Health Inc.'s Bloomington clinic as a pediatrician. Today he continues to work at the Apple Valley clinic for Group Health's successor, HealthPartners.

Ross is very active at church (First Free Church) and in promoting Creation Science. He also is a strong advocate for the Christian perspective in social issues like abortion, bioethics, homosexuality, New Age infiltration in public schools, and pornography. See Ross's web site for more.

Ross and Karin spent their growing-up years in Minneapolis, and both their families attended First Free Church. Ross graudated from Washburn High School in 1960, and then went on to the University of Minnesota for his undergraduate work and to the U of M Medical School for his M.D, graduating in 1967. Karin graduated from Minneapolis Central High School in 1966, and then graduated from Hennepin County General Hospital School of Nursing in 1970 and obtained her R.N. license. Her nursing career, however, was cut short by the arrival of Jeff in 1971 and their subsequent move to the mission field in Hong Kong in 1972. While in Hong Kong she was a full-time mother to Jeff and Susan, but also found the time for supporting the ministry to the Chinese people and teaching English to the Vietnamese "boat people" refugees who were in Hong Kong at that time.

Today Karin is active in many volunteer capacities, including serving as a Mentor Mom for the MOPS program at First Free and leading discussions at Bible Study Fellowship. She is an active encourager, sending countless cards and letters to missionaries and others all over the world. She has helped tutor refugees and schoolchildren, and helps plan activities for the children during the yearly missionary candidate school for the EFCM. She also loves to spend time with her grandsons and her granddaughters. She has had regular weekly sleepovers for several years for Christopher, Patrick and Aizec, and now for Laura.

For more pictures of Ross and Karin, go to their photo album.

Eric & Susan Anderson

Jeff's sister Susan and her husband Eric have moved back to St. Louis Park, MN in early 2006. They attend church at Cross of Glory in Hopkins.

Eric is currently a driver for EWA Courier service. Susan is currently working at the McDonalds next to their apartment and as an independent housecleaner. Together they are also working as independent business owners with their website Hensman-International. Their dream is to someday open a Christian retreat center.

Eric and Susan had to give their cats to the humane society since they found Susan is allergic.

Susan was born in Hong Kong in 1973 and was a very outgoing child. She made friends very easily and won over the hearts of countless Chinese with her blonde hair and happy smile (although she did tend to drive her older brother Jeff crazy! :-). Susan attended one year at Kowloon Junior School in Hong Kong, then went on school in Minneapolis at Hale Elementary, Field Elementary, Folwell Junior High, and finally graduated from Minneapolis North High School in 1992. She also received her Associate's degree in the Occupational Therapy Assistant program at the College of St. Catherine in 1999.

Eric grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota. (Besides Eric, other famous sons from Hibbing include Bob Dylan, Kevin McHale, Rudy Perpich, and the Greyhound bus company.) After graduating from Hibbing High School in 1977, Eric moved to the Twin Cities in 1979. In 1993 he received his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Eric and Susan met in 1995 at a singles group at Grace Church in Edina, and were married in August 1996.

For more pictures of Eric and Susan, go to their photo album.

Jason & Tami Olson

Jeff's brother Jason and his wife Tami live in a big house on the east side of St. Paul. They have three sons: Christopher, Patrick, and Aizec, and baby daughter, Annika, born in January 2006.

Jason works as a commercial roofer for M&S Roofing, and Tami is a full-time mother and home school teacher.

Jason spent the first eight years of his life in Hong Kong at the Po Leung Kok orphanage. In 1982 he was adopted and came to join our family in Minnesota. He graduated from North High School in Minneapolis in 1992, and following that took classes in the Cabinetmaking program at St. Paul Technical College.

Tami was born in California, and moved several times before coming to Minnesota when she was 6 years old. She attended school in White Bear Lake and graduated from White Bear Lake high school in 1995.

Jason and Tami met at a Michael Card concert in 1995. Tami's step-father David knew Jason, and when Tami's brother couldn't attend the concert, David asked Jason to take his place. It must have been love at first sight, since they were married later in 1995.

For more pictures of Jason and Tami, go to their photo album.

KaWan Olson

Jeff's sister KaWan (formerly Stacy) is a talented artist who excels at illustration. She is currently living in south Minneapolis in half of a duplex rented from friends at First Free Church.

KaWan, like her brother Jason, also spent her early years at the the Po Leung Kok orphanage in Hong Kong before being adopted at the age of 5 in 1984. KaWan has always had a joyful outlook on life, and she has the gift of lifting the spirits of the people in her life.

KaWan graduated from South High School in Minneapolis in 1997. After taking classes at Northwestern College, KaWan graduated from the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul in December 2002 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She currently has two part-time jobs. The first is an Administrative Assistant position at First Free Church, where she also gets to use her visual arts abilities in many ways, and the second is doing office work for Associated Consultants in Minneapolis. Her long-term dream is to illustrate children's books.

KaWan spent the summer of 2002 as a short-term missionary with Youth For Christ in Hong Kong. For more information about this exciting time in KaWan's life, visit her page on the First Free website.

While in Hong Kong, KaWan was able to visit the Po Leung Kok orphanage and minister to the children there. She was also able to meet her birth mother Wendy, and helped lead her to faith in Jesus!

KaWan is a member at First Free and is active in the Seekers International class.

For more pictures of KaWan, go to her photo album.

Christopher Olson

Christopher was our very first nephew, born in 1996.

Christopher is a fan of Spiro and Sonic.

Christopher is in 3rd grade in home school. Christopher says he likes bowling, and cake. He likes to draw. He also likes games and he is learning to play chess. He still likes math but he likes art better. He is also really into tennis and takes weekly lessons.

For more pictures of Christopher, go to his photo album.

Patrick Olson

Patrick was our second nephew, born in 1999.

Patrick currently likes trains and Bob the Builder.

Patrick knows most of the letters and sounds and is starting to write and read some words.

For more pictures of Patrick, go to his photo album.

Aizec Olson

Aizec was our third nephew, born August 10, 2001. His parents Jason and Tami have joked that Aizec's name should have been "Van", since he was born in their Dodge Caravan on the way to the hospital!

Aizec is talking alot so he doesn't sign anymore. He also is playing school with the other kids and tries to remember letter sounds, colors and numbers.

For more pictures of Aizec, go to his photo album.

Annika Olson

Annika was born on January 10, 2006 to Jason and Tami.

For more pictures of Annika, go to her photo album.

Grandma & Grandpa Olson

Jeff's grandparents Stan & Myrt Olson:

Stanley Malvin Olson

Stanley Olson was born in a house near Washington Avenue in North Minneapolis in 1918. His parents were immigrants from Norway. His father was a glass blower who had to find work in America cleaning railroad cars. His mother came as a domestic servant to northern Minnesota. Stanley was the third son, his brothers being Arnold and Arthur who both became pastors.

He graduated from Minnehaha Academy and the University of Minnesota with short times spent at St. Olaf College and Dallas Theological Seminary. He married Myrtle Johnson just after Pearl Harbor and served as a US Naval supply officer in the South Pacific after duty in Ottumwa Iowa Naval Air Station and training at Harvard. He left the Navy as a Lt. Commander. After the war he came back to work for Kelvinator, Montgomery Wards and the Douglas Company. He briefly sold real estate before joining First Federal Savings and Loan to kick off the home improvement loan concept. First Federal became First Minnesota, then Norwest Bank and he retired as a Senior Vice President before it merged with Wells Fargo. He was active on the Board of Metropolitan Medical Center and Kiwanis Club.

He served in many leadership capacities at First Covenant Church in Minneapolis and then First Evangelical Free Church, as well as the Evangelical Free Church of America who once named him "Layman of the Year." He has always been a greatly appreciated teacher of adult classes and his experience and wisdom have been valuable contributions to church leadership.

After retiring from the Savings and Loan business, he lead Christian Investors for the Evangelical Free Church of America for 12 years, a church run savings and loan type institution with the purpose of investing savings in loans to churches with building programs. He and Myrtle continue to serve in church, to help their neighbors and to lead a Bible Study in their home.

Myrtle Eva Otelia Johnson Olson

Myrtle Johnson was born on a farm in Rockford, Illinois in 1913. Her parents were immigrants from Sweden who had lived only a few miles apart on the island of Öland, but did not meet until they moved to Rockford, Illinois.

She had three siblings, two sisters and a brother. As a young child her family moved to Upsala, Minnesota where she attended school until her father developed Tuberculosis of the shoulder and had to enter Glenn Lake Sanitarium. The family moved to Minneapolis and her mother took a job sewing for Juster Bothers. She said that they moved often because they were noisy farm kids who could not be quiet enough for their neighbors. Her father eventually recovered enough to work as a watchmaker. She graduated from South High in Minneapolis and took a job with Northwestern National Life in the actuarial division while attending extension classes at the University of Minnesota.

She met Stanley Olson after having been to the Worlds Fair when they arranged to get together to look at each other's pictures of the attractions. The attractions proved to be more than just pictures. They were married in a very small ceremony at the First Covenant Church Chapel in February 1942 before Stan enlisted in the Navy.

Raising the four children, Ross, Merodie, Timothy and Bryan, born at about 3 year intervals, was a plenty big job but she also always had time for volunteer work. For many years she worked with Pioneer Girls Club at First Evangelical Free Church and helped organize Minnesota Pioneer Girls "Camp Cherith," which used a group camp in St Croix State Park. She also helped with Bible Study Fellowship and another Women's Neighborhood Bible Study at First Free Church for 15 years.

She is famous for her hospitality, having as guests not only family and friends but missionaries from around the world. And for many years, for a few weeks in the summer, Myrt and Stan rented a cabin on a lake near the Twin Cites, building memories for the 11 grandchildren.

In her late 80's she mastered the use of a computer in order to better communicate with the family, to record memories and help in putting together photo albums and ancestor books for the children and grandchildren.

Myrt passed away in December 2005 at the age of 92. We miss her, but are glad she is now in a better place with the Savior she loves. See our blog entry about her passing.

Grandma & Grandpa Falck

Jeff's grandparents Lloyd & Edythe Falck.

Edythe Lindberg was born in 1923. Lloyd Falck was born in 1924. They were married in 1947, and had seven children: Karin, Tom, Susan, Heidi, Nancy, Tim, and Christina.

Lloyd passed away in February 2005 at the age of 80. We had just celebrated his 80th Birthday party the previous month. Tom gave a moving tribute to his dad at the funeral.

Edythe lives in Burnsville and continues to attend First Free Church in Minneapolis.