Elaine “Sue” Olson-Louks, 74, of Fosston, MN, passed away peacefully in her sleep Saturday, February 14th, at her home. A Memorial Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4th, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Fosston with Father JohnMelkies Suvakeen presiding. Interment will be in Kingo Lutheran Cemetery, Fosston, at a later date. Family will greet friends for one hour prior to the service on Wednesday (March 4th) at the church. Arrangements are with Carlin Family Funeral Service of Fosston and messages of condolence may be shared at www.carlinfuneral.com.

Elaine Susan Berberich, “Sue”, as she was affectionately known, was born July 26th, 1951, in Crookston, MN to Leander and Mayme (Asselin) Berberich. She was baptized at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Brooks, MN. She grew up on the family farm near Brooks, attended the Brooks School through 8th grade, and graduated from Oklee High School in 1969. Following high school, she worked at Third Base in Brooks, and Arctic Enterprises in Thief River Falls, MN, until her son, Eric, was born, in 1978. Following Eric’s birth, she worked in Fosston, MN, as a cook at both the Chalet, and Pine to Prairie Restaurant, and later at Minnesota Dehydrated Vegetables, and JRS, up until retirement.

She married Gene Olson on April 20th, 1974, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Brooks. They then made their home on their farm in Rosebud Township near Fosston. As she did when she was younger, she helped with haying and tending the cattle on the farm, until Gene’s passing in 2000.

She married Joe Louks, July 29th, 2011, in Mahnomen, MN. After Joe’s retirement, they spent their time traveling and fishing.

Sue was born the ninth of 16 children, and fifth of 11 sisters, famously known as the “Berberich Gals”. She was an avid softball player for over 25 years, traveling all over Minnesota with various teams, but before there was the movie, “A League of Their Own”, in 1979, the Berberich Gals became “A Team of Their Own”. For three decades, on the second Saturday in September, Sue and her sisters could be found on the ‘grassy diamond fields’ of Brooks at the annual Blast to Brooks Softball Tournament. With mom Mayme and siblings cheering and coaching from the bench, Sue would step up to the plate, batting third, hitting line drives and legging doubles into triples. In the field, at shortstop, with each of her sisters in their positions around her, she would knock down short hops, snag line drives, or relay cutoffs from the outfield, and fire rocket like balls on bang-bang plays at home or first base. If it wasn’t on the playgrounds of Brooks, she would be up on the stage taking home first-place trophies from the arm-wrestling competition or be found with the rest of her competitive family at the Berberich Farm on Halloween weekend designing costumes, trying to outdo each other and the local competition, in their attempts to take home the big prize money at the Cozy in Brooks.

In addition to Sue’s athletic talent, she was an excellent cook and very talented craft maker. She had the privilege of cooking for Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich, Minnesota Twins Kirby Puckett and Dan Gladden, and Twins Radio Broadcaster Herb Carneal.

Survivors include her husband, Joe, of 15 years; son, Eric Olson (Melanie) of Fosston, MN; siblings, Marge Miller of Thief River Falls, MN, Loretta Pittman of Thief River Falls, MN, Francis (Mike) Schmitt of Bemidji, MN, Betty (Mark) Lindy of Bemidji, MN, Rita (Kevin) Fenner of Bemidji, MN, Kay Sharp of Red Lake Falls, MN, Connie (Charles) Bishop of Lake George, MN, John Berberich of Brooks, MN, and Janet (Rick) Koivisto of Plummer, MN; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and in-laws; and stepsons, Brent of Indiana, and Christopher of Maryland.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Gene; four brothers, Leroy, Linus, Lawrence, Claire; two sisters, Carol Harbott and Alice Balstad; three unborn grandchildren; as well as many other dearly missed Berberich and Olson family.