Margaret M Colson

Margaret Marie (Grimes) Colson was born September 7, 1943 in Superior, Nebraska, to Gordon and Katherine (Keeler) Grimes, the younger of two daughters and one of four children.  She died in the Brodstone Memorial Hospital in Superior on December 8, 2017.   She attended school in Montrose, Esbon and Mankato graduating from Mankato High in 1961.  During her high school years, she worked as a waitress for her mother, mainly at the Frontier Café.  During these years she learned to work successfully with all the customers, a skill that she transferred to her work in the bank.  Margaret had the ability to work professionally and treat people personally at the same time. People enjoyed working with her.  Saving money from waitressing, Margaret put herself through Brown-Mackie School of Business in Salina.  Graduating from Brown-Mackie, Margaret began her professional career at the State Exchange Bank in Mankato in 1962.  She worked in banking for nearly fifty years before she retired.

On October 26, 1963, she married her high school sweetheart, Richard A. Colson.  Three children were born to them:  Crystal Lynn, Mark Richard, and Nicholas Warne.

After her marriage Margaret was an integral part of Colson Brothers Custom Harvesting.  From April until October, and from Texas to the Dakotas and Montana, she organized the living and eating arrangements for the entire crew.  Living and cooking in a series of trailers, her jobs were many and varied.  She was cook, laundress, dishwasher (before there were machines for that task), and parts delivery person.  She drove trucks, and combines in the field and helped move equipment between jobs when needed.

Jobs weren't the only things to consider.  Margaret hated snakes more than anything.  In South Dakota the rattlesnakes were so thick the harvest help stepped from the trucks onto the ladder of the combines without ever touching the ground.  Margaret still took meals to the fields, but she wouldn't get out of the car to serve them.

Every summer during harvest Margaret chaperoned 10 to 15 young men.  She was friend, mentor, and substitute mother as well as tour guide and bus driver.  When it was too wet to cut, she hauled "her boys" to the movies, to Glacier National Park, Cherry Creek Reservoir in Colorado, the State Fair in Great Falls Montana, and many historic sites.   She even took them into the mountains of Colorado so her Texas boys could see snow for the first time.

Weather sometimes made life in trailers dangerous.  Once in Oakley, Kansas, the wind rocked the cook trailer so hard she couldn't fix dinner.  They had to park grain trucks around the trailer to block the wind.  There were times in Texas with storms coming through; the crew took shelter in the courthouse basement.  They returned to the trailer to find broken windows.  At times she had to contend with no water or electricity.

Keeping a happy camp was not easy.  When it rained, the chances for horseplay increased. Crystal may not remember this, but one activity that took place involved her when she was just a few months old.  One of the crew, V.V. "Whit" Whitaker, would hold her in the palm of one hand and play airplane with her, sailing her through the air in loops and dips.  Crystal seemed to like it.

Margaret always appreciated the generosity of the State Exchange Bank, allowing her to interrupt her work there to participate in harvest during the long summer months for so many years and come back to the bank after harvest was over.

From the time Crystal, her oldest, entered kindergarten in 1970 until she no longer could attend, Margaret followed her children's and grandchildren's athletic events and programs, including all the events in which they participated.  Her youngest, Nicholas, graduated from high school I 1997, and her oldest grandchild, Kylene, began kindergarten the following fall.  After Kylene graduated, there were still games and programs for Clay and Connor.  While Crystal worked, Margaret could be home from the bank in time to keep her children, especially Kylene, after school.

In her community Margaret served in several capacities.  She belonged to the Methodist Church, the UMW Circle where she served as treasurer; she served as treasurer for the Church Board of Trustees.  She taught Sunday School for 3 & 4 year-olds. She was a member of the Library Board, served as the Mankato City bookkeeper/treasurer, delivered Meals on Wheels and volunteered at the UTE Theater.   She was a member of the local chapter of the D.A.R.

At home, Margaret followed her favorite college and professional sports teams on television.   She always knew when KSU or the KC Chiefs were playing football and KU or WSU were playing basketball.    She enjoyed reading, working on family history, attending family reunions, and walking cemeteries.  In later years, she took up quilting.

When her health failed, Margaret welcomed the arrival of Nicholas, his wife Kate (Kat), and their children, first Evelyn Margaret, and then Cullen Bronsen, into her home. She considered the arrangement a highlight.

One of Margaret's greatest gifts, besides her gift with numbers, was her way with people.  She asked questions and listened to the answers.  She remembered what people told her about their kids and grandkids.  She knew so much about the family histories of her friends and family.  If she couldn't remember, she pulled out her alumni book that had information about people from various schools in the area to be sure she had the facts right.

Margaret is survived by her husband, Richard A. Colson; her daughter, Crystal, and husband - Mitchell Cosand; her son, Nicholas and his wife Kate or Kat; five grandchildren: Kylene, and husband – Riley Sholtz; Clay Cosand, Conner Cosand, Evelyn Colson, and Cullen Colson; two brothers, Bob and wife -  Genny Grimes and John and wife - Rella Grimes of Washington State; and one sister, Marilyn Sue, and husband - LeRoy Eaton of Mankato; and a number of nieces and nephews.   She was preceded in death by her parents - Gordon and Katherine Grimes, her son - Mark Richard, and her mother-in-law - Evelyn Colson Swinton.