Nadine L. Olmstead

Nadine Laurine (Kinter) Olmstead passed peacefully into the arms of God on March 3rd, 2020. Nadine was born January 20, 1928 to Nelson and Ethel Kinter on the family farm in Sherwood, Michigan. She was the third of six children. She graduated from Bronson High School in 1946, where she had been the only girl at that time to take a mechanical drafting class. She was also on the basketball team and played coronet in the band. After graduation she played in a Jazz band and worked in the office of Bronson Reel. On New Year’s Eve 1949 she met Larry Olmstead at a dance. They began dating and were married 10 months later on October 20, 1950. They moved to Kentucky while Larry was in the service and here, son Randy was born. After they moved back to Coldwater in 1952, Larry and Nadine ran the The Olmstead Dairy with his brother and wife. Daughters, Robyn and Jody, were both born in Coldwater. In 1957 Larry joined the Michigan State Police and they moved to Wayland where daughter Kelli was born. Mom counted one time that they ended up moving a total of 12 times together. Many times she packed up the house and unpacked in the new house, all the time caring for four children. With every move, she always found a new career for herself, school secretary and bookkeeper for many companies. In 1984 she and Larry retired and moved to Pentwater full time. They spent the next 28 years dividing their time between Pentwater and Florida. In 2012 they moved to Allen Springs Retirement Community in Jenison, MI.

Over her long life, Nadine loved doing crafts of all kinds, she was an excellent seamstress and furniture upholsterer. She bowled, golfed, played bridge in a club, and helped Larry remodel and redecorate almost every house they ever lived in. Even as she got older, she was energetic, determined, ambitious, and still highly competitive at cards! Nadine was a longtime member of The First Baptist Church in Hart, MI and Lady Lake Baptist Church in Florida. She volunteered many hours at Oceana County Hospital and was a medallion blood donor, often being called to donate blood.

Nadine was predeceased by her husband of almost 63 years, Larry, in 2013; her parents; brothers, Chuck and Larry; sister, Irene; brothers and sisters-in-law, Skip and Karna, Royce and Tommy, Bill, Albert, June and Spike; nephews, Stuart, Matt, and Mike. She is survived by her four children, Randy and Debbie Olmstead, Robyn and Pat Scott, Jody and John Olmstead/Ritzema, Kelli and Greg DeMull; grandchildren, Rachael (Chris), John (Kristin), Sarah, Tyler, Caitlin (Allan), Mackenzie, Brody, and Gabrielle; great-grandchildren, Archer, Cecilia, and Naomi; sisters, Kitty, Nataline (Glen); sisters-in-law, Gail and Mary; many nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at 2:00pm, Saturday, March 7th, at Matthysse Kuiper DeGraaf Funeral Home, 4145 Chicago Dr. SW, Grandville, MI. Donations can be made to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and please be a blood donor if you can.