Olive Eloise Speer

Olive Eloise Speer, loved life, her family, and especially music. She passed away at the age of 104 in her home on Thursday, July 24, 2014. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, August 2, 2014 at the Hanover United Presbyterian Church. Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery, Hanover. A visitation will be held from 4:00-7:00 p.m., Friday, August 1, 2014 at Law Jones Funeral Home, Hanover.
Olive was born on February 25, 1910, the daughter of Henry and Lilian (Kiekhoefer) Griebenow in St. Cloud, Minnesota. She attended South High School in Minneapolis, graduating with the class of 1928. She later went on to attend the University of Minnesota, earning two Bachelor’s Degrees; a B.A. in Music and a B.S. in Education. Olive married Ralph Speer, MD on September 10, 1938 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ralph passed away in 1991.
After WWII, Olive and Ralph moved to Hanover, where she taught vocal music at Hanover schools for many years. Music was her life, and she enjoyed teaching others by giving piano lessons in her home. Olive was a member of many organizations, including being a founding member of Hanover Women’s Club. She was an elder, choir director and organist at the Hanover United Presbyterian Church. Olive also belonged to the Delta Kappa Gamma and Sigma Alpha Iota sororities.
Olive will be dearly missed by her son, Richard Speer, of Hanover; daughter, Jean (Lance) Ralston of Seal Beach, California; four grandchildren, Lance Ralston II, Michael Ralston, Nicole Carlin, and Kirk Ralston; and five great-grandchildren.
Olive was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph; parents, Henry and Lilian; and two brothers, Gordon and Richard Griebenow.