Barbara Fritsche Olmanson

Barbara Schell Fritsche was born born on March 17, 1932 in New Ulm, Minnesota to Dr. Albert and Elsie (Marti) Fritsche. Her paternal grandfather, Dr. L. A. Fritsche was awarded the first license to practice medicine in Minnesota. He started the Fritsche Clinic in New Ulm, where Barbara’s father and three uncles practiced medicine. L.A. and Albert’s brother Ted served as mayors of New Ulm. Albert, too, was active in politics and community affairs. Barbara’s mother Elsie Theresa Marti Fritsche was the daughter of George and Emma (Schell) Marti. George was a pharmacist who operated a drug store in St. Paul before moving to New Ulm in 1898. George later served as the president of the August Schell Brewery which was founded by his father-in-law, August Schell, in 1860. After the death of her husband, Emma Marti ran the brewery for six years until 1940. For a woman to run a brewery in that time period certainly was unique. Barbara’s mother Elsie studied music at Washburn College, in Topeka, Kansas, and at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. She was the first music teacher at New Ulm Public Schools. Barbara’s great-grandfathers William Pfaender and August Schell, and great-great-grandfather Johann Karl Fritsche, were among the founders of the city of New Ulm.

Barbara had an idyllic childhood, spending time with her Grandma Emma Marti in the historic family home on the August Schell Brewing Company grounds. She learned to crochet while sitting on the porch overlooking the garden and deer park. Her Aunt Hoofa would serve them coffeecakes, cookies, and cinnamon rolls. Barbara also got to drink coffee (half milk). Sometimes her mother Elsie took her to coffee klatches. At an early age, she developed an interest in natural history, travel to faraway places, and music. She loved the outdoors, camping, and canoeing. Her mother taught her to recognize spring wildflowers and to identify birds by their song. Barbara was active in band, orchestra, choir, girls athletic club, and Camp Fire Girls.

When she was a 17-year-old high school senior Barbara was crowned Miss New Ulm to represent the New Ulm district at the St. Paul Winter Carnival. She was among 25 young women invited to the Carnival to compete to be “Queen of the Snows.”

Over Christmas break, December 23, 1949-January 8, 1950, Barbara went on a road trip with the Spanish teacher and a group of high school students to Mexico. Barb was impressed by the pyramids and thoroughly enjoyed the trip, even though she felt at a linguistic disadvantage because her father had insisted she take Latin instead of Spanish.

Barbara attended Miami University from 1950 to 1952. She was in a sorority and had an active social life. After her second year there, she decided to transfer to the University of Minnesota.

Barbara met her future husband, Donald (then called “Donie”) Olmanson in 1952 while working at the Green Giant Canning Company in Le Seuer, Minnesota during summer break from college. Don had finished his third year at the University of Minnesota and was working in the cream-style corn section at the Green Giant factory in Le Sueur, Minnesota. Barbara was transferred to cream-style corn because of her allegedly strong stomach—the previous “girls” couldn’t stand the smell. For Don, it was love at first sight. The day Barb quit, Don asked her for a date. He said he would fly his plane to New Ulm to help her choose classes at the University of Minnesota. Barb was surprised when he actually showed up in the small plane he co-owned with his brother. According to Barbara, “Our first date was loaded with heavy conversation. We discussed the philosophy of life, religion, and ambitions in life. This is where we first talked about wanting to work abroad a few years—in a place without an ‘American compound.’”

After dating for two weeks, Don proposed. Barb told him that marriage was fine, but she had no intention to marry until she was 35. She wanted to travel and live abroad. After a month she changed her mind and they were married a year after they met. For their honeymoon, they went on a canoe trip in northern Minnesota. A canoe trip requires careful planning because you must carry everything over portages that can be over a mile in length. You also need to be in sync to paddle efficiently. There probably isn’t a better test of compatibility than a canoe trip. Slides from a 1954 canoe trip show a well-organized and clean campsite and a very happy-looking couple. Barb and Don continued to paddle in sync well into their 70s.

At the University of Minnesota, Barb completed a B.A. in social work (1953) and a B.S. in elementary education (1956) to obtain her teaching certificate. She taught second grade in the Minneapolis school system while Don completed Medical School at the University of Minnesota. After interning at Minneapolis General Hospital, Don joined his father’s medical clinic in St. Peter in 1957. A few years later, with their third child on the way, they decided to seek an overseas service position.

In November of 1960, they received a letter from the American Medical Center for Burma (AMCB) which had been established in 1946 to support Dr. Gordon Seagrave’s hospital in Namkham, Burma. They were seeking a doctor to sign up for a two-year term to help Dr. Seagrave, with the hope that after two years they might stay longer. Don and Barb were hesitant to work with a “big name” but after reading Dr. Seagrave’s book Burma Surgeon they decided to apply for the post. They flew to New York to be interviewed and on February 17, 1961, Don was officially appointed as a new doctor on the Namkham Hospital staff and told that they might leave as early as May. Barbara later wrote: “It wasn’t exactly being chosen on merit since all the other candidates had chickened out and we were the only ones left willing to go.”

After several delays, false starts, and a period of limbo after Don had already resigned from the clinic, they had sold their home, and shipped their belongings to New York, their visa finally came through. By then, Barb was pregnant with their fourth child. Due to Burmese bureaucracy regarding bringing goods into the country, Dr. Seagrave insisted that the family travel by freighter with their own belongings and vital medical supplies for the hospital. On August 9, 1961, after a sendoff gathering at the home of the former ambassador to Burma, Barb, Don, Eric (3), Thor (2), and Schelli (1), boarded the Hellenic Splendor, a Greek freighter, for what was supposed to be a forty-day cruise with stops in Gibraltar, Crete, Alexandria, Port Said, Jeddah, Port Sudan, Djibouti, Karachi, and Bombay. They did not reach Rangoon until October 12, 1961, sixty-five days after leaving New York harbor, and did not arrive in Namkham until October 21, three months after leaving their home in Minnesota. After one month on the freighter, Barb wrote with deadpan humor: “This trip would be quite relaxing if we didn’t have three little kids to keep from going overboard.”

After a warm welcome at the Namkham Hospital compound, Don was put to work seeing patients and performing surgery. Barb oversaw the household, adapted quickly to their new home, and taught English in the local school. She was well organized and chronicled their experience by keeping copies of her regular letters to friends and family in the USA. There was a lot to write about. At first, things were idyllic, with a steady stream of visitors from the USA and Europe. Then, six days after Barb gave birth to daughter Trudi, General New Win led a coup d'état that replaced the civilian government with a Revolutionary Council. The flow of visitors slowed to a trickle, mail including medical and other supplies started disappearing, and Dr. Seagrave—who was already in poor health—became increasingly anxious about the future of his hospital.

On May 12, 1963, the Olmansons left Burma. After visiting Don’s sister Joanne Pedersen in Indonesia they returned to Minnesota. Don went back to work at the clinic with his father and brother Vern. Once they readjusted to life in the USA, Barb collected clothing, books, and other items to send to Burma, while Don did all he could to raise money to support the hospital. Leif was born in July 1963 and Lori in January 1965.

Even with six kids, Barb and Don continued to travel. In 1964 they took the older two boys on an 8-day canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. The boys carried their own pack and slept in a vintage pup tent. The following year they all went camping in the Black Hills. Barb wrote: “Traveling with 6 kids isn't easy, but the camping was enjoyable.” They continued to take road trips and trips abroad. Barb liked to avoid tourist traps, get off the beaten track, and experience different cultures.

Barb and Don had a lot in common while respecting each other's differences. They were frugal and resourceful. They worked hard, worked the kids hard, and balanced that with family time—and time for themselves. They truly enjoyed each other’s company. Don liked to say that he let Barb think she was the boss (we all knew that Mom really was the boss).

Barb loved to try new foods and was an excellent cook. She had learned to make Burmese curry with cucumber salad and Khow suey in Burma. She made granola and yogurt before it was available at the local grocery store. She came from a long line of mushroom hunters. Armed with books by Euell Gibbons she leads forays into the woods in search of edible plants.

When her youngest child entered kindergarten, Barb began volunteering at South Elementary School in St. Peter.

Barb subscribed to Organic Gardening magazine and was an avid gardener. Well into her 80s she had a large and productive garden. She grew flowers as well as vegetables. She also had a small wild area, with a birch tree and wildflowers. Every year she canned shelves of tomatoes, apple sauce, and other fruits and vegetables that were stored in the root cellar. For decades she served as part of the volunteer gardening crew for the E. St. Julien Cox House museum.

In 2000 Barb and Don started remodeling a farmhouse they had purchased in 1972 for their retirement home.

When Barb turned 70 she decided to work on her bucket list with Trudi as her tour guide. First was Ecuador and the Galapagos islands (with Thor) - Blue-footed Boobies, Tortoises, Sea Lions, and the largest indigenous market in South America. Other adventures included Peru - Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, Panama (with Eric) - Quetzals and orchids, Nicaragua - egg-laying sea turtles, coffee plantations, Thailand- Markets and hundred-year-old eggs, Norway and Germany (with Eric), Tobago (with Leif, Britta & Anders) and each of her children and several grandchildren joined her on multiple trips to Mexico.

In 2006 Barb, Don & Trudi returned to Burma with a detour to China - Baby Pandas and Terra Cotta warriors. They were welcomed back with open arms and got to see their old neighbors, their old house, and the hospital in Namkham as well as visit with nurses dad worked with and students mom taught throughout the country as word spread fast that they were there. Other highlights were Bagan, Mandalay, Inle lake and Ngapali beach.

Barbara was active in the community. In 1980 she helped form the Arts and Heritage Council “to promote education, interest in, and support for the fine arts and the history and cultural heritage of the area.” According to Barb, she “left an important meeting early” and was appointed as the first president of the organization. They worked to get the old Central School building on the National Registry for Historic Places. They rented out rooms in the building to local artists and put on a variety of programs there. Barb was also active in the Nicollet County Historical Society. Along with Don, Barb was also active in planning and raising money to build a new museum building located near Traverse des Sioux Park. The Treaty Site History Center opened in 1994.

Barbara, all-around amazing person, beloved mother, and grandmother, passed away on June 3rd, 2022.  All of her surviving children and several grandchildren were with her before she died. She was preceded in death by her husband Donald Olmanson and her son Thor Olmanson. She is survived by her older brother Louis, her children Eric (Andrea) Olmanson, Schelli (Amby) McCabe, Trudi (Eli Hoehn) Olmanson, Leif (Kris) Olmanson, and Lori (Harold) Swick and Daughter-in-law Jill Stoffregen; her grandchildren Garth, Karl, Marty, Brandon, Anders, Joshua, Ryan, Collin, Britta, Keegan, Bjorn, Hypatia, and Elsie , step-grandchildren  Andrico Baker-Dmetriou, Rose Draper & Sophie Draper; and great-grandchildren: Melissa, Hayde, Nora, Curtis, Eloise and August. 

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