Myra K. Ohlsen, 75, of Seneca, KS, died on Thursday, March 25, 2010 at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca.

Myra was born in Sabetha on December 2, 1934 to Earl C. and Ida Lohmann Murphy. She attended school at Seneca and graduated as salutatorian from Seneca Public High School in 1953. She entered the Bethany School of Nursing in the fall of 1953. She was a member of the National Honor Society and graduated in the top quarter of her class. She passed her State Boards in 1956 and retained her RN license until 1963.

As a RN she worked nights at Bethany for about a year before moving to Topeka as a nurse in the neurology department at the VA Hospital. When she started, the VA Hospital was still housed in its previous barracks-style location. Myra helped move all the patients to the VA Hospitals’s new location at 6th & Gage, which was done in a single day.

On July 9, 1961 she married F. William Ohlsen at the United Church of Christ in Seneca. The couple lived in Seneca until 1963 when they moved to Norton to operate the Frontier Station and Café. In 1967, the couple returned to Seneca and operated the Montgomery Ward Agency before starting their own business, Ohlsen Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. In 1981 they opened Ohlsen Shoe Repair out of their home. Myra was widowed early, when her husband of just 20 years died at the age of 57, leaving her to raise their children, the youngest a third-grader at the time. She also took care of her mother, Ida and her Aunt Laura Lohmann. When her daughter Sharri purchased a ceramic shop she assisted her daughter with the business, instructing classes and running the shop.

Myra was a member of the United Church of Christ. She loved her family, and enjoyed gardening, crafts and sewing.

She is survived by her daughter, Sharri Musgrove of Seneca; her sons, Brett (Lisa) and Chadd Ohlsen, both of Seneca; and six grandchildren, Robert, Michael, Brandon and Katelyn Ohlsen, and Heather and Taylor Musgrove.

She was preceded in death by her father on July 25, 1961, her mother on February 23, 1998, her husband on September 18, 1981, and her grandson, Timothy Ohlsen on September 29, 2002.

A visitation will be held from 6 to 8 PM on Sunday, March 28, at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca. Services will be held at 10 AM Monday, March 29, at the funeral home. Graveside services will follow at the Seneca City Cemetery.