Marsha Elaine Olson Zottola, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, daughter, and friend, passed away peacefully on December 29, 2024, at the age of 87. Marsha was born to Lucille (Gnos) and Paul Olson, on December 22, 1937, in Cloquet Minnesota. She will be remembered for her skill in the kitchen, her love of all creatures, and deep appreciation of cheese, butter, and whipped cream.

In 1945, Marsha moved with her family to Cook, Minnesota, where she made numerous life-long friends. She was a beloved cheerleader for the Cook Gophers and maintained her ability to do the splits and back handsprings into her 60's. After high school she studied to become a med tech at the Junior College in Virginia, MN. She moved to Minneapolis and worked at the VA Hospital. It was while she was there that she met the love of her life, Edmund Zottola, on the shores of Lake Nokomis.

Marsha and Ed married on April 8, 1960, and together they raised four children — Joseph, Sarah, Josh, and Theresa. Their journey together took them from St. Paul, where Ed pursued graduate school, to Glenview, Illinois, for Ed's work at Kraft Foods, and briefly to Iowa. Eventually, they returned to St. Paul when Ed resumed his academic career at the University of Minnesota. Marsha welcomed her kids' and grandkids' friends, and Ed's graduate students into her home with love.

Ed's career took them on many international adventures, including Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, the Caribbean, and many trips to Europe, including the epic 4 month journey in an orange VW camper with all 4 kids to study cheese making in 1974, and 4 months in Ireland in the 80's. The family also traveled extensively in the US, spending several Christmases on Sanibel Island in Florida looking for shells, taking summer road trips to the West Coast, and time spent at the Schmidt Island cabin on Lake Vermilion.

In the 90's, they renovated a home on the mainland in preparation for retirement. Marsha and Ed loved to spend hours there watching the lake, birds, and critters that visited their yard. In the winter she fed the birds and foxes, leaving raisins on the deck rail for a special cardinal. Indoors, she kept busy with her hand crafts, jigsaw & word puzzles, and reading the Bible as well as novels and nonfiction.

Marsha loved the Lord and was a faithful servant in both her church and her community. When the family moved to St. Anthony Park in St. Paul, she visited every church in the neighborhood to find the right home at SAP Lutheran Church. She taught Sunday school, was a member of the quilting group, and attended numerous Bible studies. After retirement, they moved to Cook full time, making their spiritual home at Trinity Lutheran Church.

Marsha was deeply engaged in her community, including her work with the SAP Co-op. In Cook, she volunteered at the Thrift Store and attended quilting at Trinity. She adored visiting all the animals at Cook's Country Connection, perusing books at the library, finding treasures at the thrift store and garage sales, and participating in the annual bird count in December. She loved to knit, crochet, sew, tinker and fix things. But was ever humble, frequently declaring: "I never thought I could do this until you kids asked me for help."

In the kitchen, Marsha was a masterful cook and baker. She was famous for her waffles with strawberries and sour cream, spaghetti, delicious pies (with plenty of fresh whipped cream), cinnamon rolls, pizza, lasagna, and her fresh-baked, State-Fair-prize-winning bread. She loved Italian food and was glad to have learned the Zottola family favorites. Marsha decoded Grandma Z's toasted cookie recipe to the delight of all the family, when she figured out that a stick of butter actually meant a full pound of butter.

Marsha had a green thumb and frequently grew interesting plants from cuttings from friends. She always had a garden with vegetables and flowers. She grew garlic and gave braids of the bulbs as gifts. One year she grew a giant pumpkin that she lost to a bear. Another year, it was giant sunflowers. She always had raspberries growing that she used to make jam.

She loved to play in the snow - cross country skiing on the lake, snowshoeing, building snow forts, having snowball fights with her grandkids, and sledding down the driveway. She loved to see how far she could go, delighted when she went past the house. In the summer, she loved to go for walks just to see what she could find growing on her land, like lupines, lady slippers, and double bloodroot.

She always had a rock in her pocket or her purse. She looked for agates, driftwood, and shells wherever she went, amassing quite a collection.

Marsha loved to watch sports - basketball, hockey, football, golf, and the Olympics. True to herself, she always wanted both sides to win, unless Duke was playing. Such was her fervor, that she'd often leap to her feet and exclaim, "Oh, phooey."

Marsha was preceded in death by her parents, her beloved husband, Edmund, her sister Barbara Bergman, brother-in-law, Ole Swanson, brother-in-law Palmer Zottola and wife Mildred, and sister-in-law Teresa Miller and husband Richard.

She is survived by her children Joseph, Sarah (Michael), Josh, and Theresa; her grandchildren, Jessica, Amy, JessieAnne, Sean, Josh, and Sierra; sister Paula Swanson; granddog Walli, numerous nieces and nephews, beloved in laws, Ernie and Diana Zottola, and many friends and extended family.

The family is grateful for the care Marsha received in Cook at CareFree, Scenic Rivers Clinic, and the Cook Hospital.

A celebration of Marsha's life will be held at 1pm on Friday, January 10, 2025, at Trinity Lutheran Church, in Cook, MN, with visitation at noon. A reception follows. There will be cheese. We hope you will join us.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Marsha's memory may be made to Friends of the Cook Public Library, PO Box 126, Cook, MN 55723, EIN 82-0803460, or Cook's Country Connection, 1953 Vermilion Drive Cook MN 55723, Venmo @CooksCountryConnection, PayPal @LoisPajari. Donations to CCC will be for the construction of a new public structure. Or just come up to Cook and hit the thrift store hard. Tell them Marsha sent you!