Brigitte Olsson, a recent immigrant to the U.S. and Darien, died on Tuesday Dec. 3, 2019. She was 85.
Brigitte Olsson, 85, died Dec. 3. A Mass celebrating her life will be held on Dec. 21.
She was born Brigitte Matern in Grieslinen, East Prussia, now part of Poland, on May 10, 1934.
She and her five siblings fled to West Germany to escape Russian troops marching to Berlin in January 1945, and in 1956 she moved to Switzerland to become sales manager in a clothing company.
In 1960, she met and married her husband of 54 years, Lars Olsson of Stockholm, with whom she lived at various times in Sweden, Cologne, Palo Alto, Italy, Switzerland, Kenya, South Africa, Indonesia and India before retiring in Switzerland.
She is survived by her three children: Ingrid Teschner of Darien, Jan Olsson of London and Sven Olsson of Miami; by seven grandchildren: Corinne, Emily, James and Pia Teschner of Darien and Guilia, Ian and Lara Olsson of Miami; and by two siblings: Alfons and Brunhilde Matern and their families in Cologne. She was predeceased by her husband, Lars, her parents, and her siblings: Hans, Margarete, and Magda.
Brigitte was a warm, radiant personality, always smiling and conversing in one of her five languages. She had boundless energy and could be found walking rain or shine in the mountains of Switzerland or latterly the lanes of Tokeneke with the family dog, Hershey, until 10 days before her death.
A Mass celebrating her life will be held at 12 noon, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019 at the Convent of St.Birgitta in Tokeneke. Please send any donations to the Convent of St. Birgitta for their renovation project.
— an obituary from Nutmeg State Cremation Society