Olive “Ollie” E. Volk

BINGHAM LAKE - Olive “Ollie” E. (Seydel) Volk, age 98, of rural Bingham Lake, MN, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on March 6, 2026, at Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Lakefield, MN.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held for Olive at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, at the Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Windom (1157 3rd Avenue, Windom, MN 56101) with Pastor Paul Sajban officiating. The service will be recorded and available afterwards on Olive’s obituary at www.sinnfuneralhome.com.

Visitation will take place from 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM on Monday, March 16, 2026, at the Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Windom (1157 3rd Avenue, Windom, MN 56101). Visitation will also take place from 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM prior to the service at the church on Tuesday. Olive will be buried at Lakeside Cemetery in Heron Lake, next to her husband, Bernard “Bud” Volk.

The Sinn Family Celebration of Life Center of Trimont, Sherburn, and Welcome is assisting the family with arrangements.

Olive Esther Volk, daughter of the late Gustav and Johanna (Stumpf) Seydel, was born at home in West Heron Lake Township near Okabena, Minnesota on October 4, 1927. Olive was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Ewington Township July 29, 1928, and was confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Okabena May 24, 1942. In June of 1946, she graduated from Okabena Public School. Olive married Bernard “Bud” Volk at Grace Lutheran Church in Worthington, Minnesota December 1, 1946. They made their home in Heron Lake until 1965, when they moved to Windom.

Olive loved to travel and visited all fifty states, except Hawaii. She baked bread and cookies for her family and spent a large portion of her summers canning fruits and vegetables to enjoy year-round. She liked to play cribbage and also had many outdoor interests. Ollie loved to feed and watch birds and other wildlife. She went fishing whenever she got the chance. She could fish for hours, even if the fish didn’t bite. She was known for her beautiful flowers and had Brenda transplant most of them when she moved to Brenda and Mike’s home in rural Bingham Lake in 2007 where she lived until January of last year.

Ollie loved being with people and worked as a waitress for many years. Children, she said, kept her young so her yard was often a playground for her visiting grandchildren and great-grandchildren and their neighborhood friends.

Ollie retired in 1996 and spent her time visiting her children, playing bingo, fishing, and playing cribbage. When she couldn’t get around as well as she used to, she read books and magazines even more than she had before and was very appreciative of our local library. When she couldn’t travel to see them, her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren often came to visit her. She looked forward to those visits immensely.

Left to treasure her memory are her children, Roger (Judy) Volk, Lorraine Killian, Brian (Diane) Lorengo-Volk, Brenda (Michael) Renczykowski, Peggy (Doug) Wachal; grandchildren, Russell Sr., Albert, Judith Lee, Crystal, Becky, Brian, Danny, Jason, James, Scott, Michele, Kimberley and Sarah; great-grandchildren, Russell Jr., Ryan, Samual, Abigail, Gwyneth, Dean, Serena, Lance, Eilan, Blake, Faith, Kylee, Taylor, Kelsey, Sophia, Olivia, Nicolas, Ethan, Luke, Grace, Levi, Milo, Rayna, and Xadie; great-great-grandchildren, Carson, Olivia, Grace, Aiden, Waylon, and Oakley; nieces and nephews; sisters-in-law, Joyce Seydel and Marjorie (John) Grannis; and other relatives and friends.

Ollie was preceded in death by her husband, Bernard; her parents, Gustav and Johanna (Stumpf) Seydel; father-in-law, Max Volk; stepmother-in-law, Ethel Volk; and mother-in-law, Jesse Day Volk. Also going on ahead of her were her brothers and sisters and many of their spouses, Emilia Grages Law and Wilbert Grages and John Law; Hulda (Herman) Schmidt; Gustav (Mary Ann) Seydel; Roland Seydel; Cora (Kenneth) Buckwalter; Genevieve (Eugene) Lutz; Lester Seydel; Esther (Raymond) Busse; Franklin Seydel; and Virginia (Martin) Krause; sister-in-law, Dolores Becker. Also preceding her were Bernard’s siblings and spouses, Joyce (George) Benson, Maxine Volk, Robert (Annabel) Volk; step-sisters, Mildred (Clint) Hyde and Blanche (Andrew) Stiegelmeyer; and several nieces and nephews have also preceded her in death.