Maria Elisabeth “Liisa” Johnson Oliver
9/11/1952 - 8/26/2025
Salt Lake City, UT—Loving mother, grandmother, wife, teacher, and friend. Liisa will be remembered for her love of all things Finnish, of animals and plants, and for her mischievous sense of humor.
Liisa Oliver, 72, of Salt Lake City, UT died after a multi-year struggle with Alzheimer's on August 26, 2025. She was born in Helsinki, Finland in 1952 to Mirjam Anneli and Magnus Castrén, and grew up in Riihimäki with her older sister Annele and younger sister Leena. The girls loved cross-country skiing during the winter and foraging for berries and mushrooms and swimming in the many lakes of Finland during the summer. The family always had dogs, usually boxers, and Liisa had an enduring soft spot for the 'critters' as she called them. From a young age, she liked to be different and do things her own way.
Liisa attended school in Riihimäki before moving to the U.S. with her mother and sisters in 1963. Her mother sewed maps inside their jackets marking all the stops from Finland to Denmark to England to Utah, in case they got lost en route. They had quite the adventure getting out of Finland with ice breakers, worker strikes, and seasickness before crossing the Atlantic on the legendary ocean liner, the Queen Mary. The family arrived in Salt Lake City speaking almost no English but soon found a community of Finns to ease their transition and help the new city feel like home.
Liisa's mother remarried Delmar Johnson and he adopted Liisa and her sisters, bringing his son Steve from a previous marriage as their stepbrother, and soon having her youngest sister Lenette. Liisa attended Olympus Junior High and High School before going on to study Elementary Education and Art at the University of Utah. She loved ceramics, painting, and creating modern takes on traditional Finnish designs.
Liisa married her first husband John Wilmer in 1975 and moved to Aptos, California. Several years later, after moving back to Utah from California, she had her daughter Tiina. John and Liisa divorced in 1984.
Liisa taught second grade and started a literacy coaching program at Lincoln Elementary for decades before moving to Salt Lake City School District as a literacy coach. She was a beloved teacher with many close friends in the education department and her huge collection of children's books was always on loan to neighbors and friends. Her all-time favorite were the many Moomin Troll books by Tove Jansson.
Liisa met Rick Oliver in 1985 and the two married in a backyard ceremony the following year at the house Rick still calls home. They had their son Carston in 1987. She and Rick loved cooking and hosting dinners and she continued the tradition of baking Piimäkakku (delicious spiced buttermilk cake) for her neighbors and friends every Christmas until her final years.
Liisa always had a close connection with animals and dogs in particular. She carried on her mother's green thumb and was well known for her prolific plant propagation, beautiful flower and vegetable garden, and ability to nurse plants back to health. Liisa was also a magnificent seamstress, making many of her own clothes throughout her life and even sewing her sister's wedding dress. She found great joy in cursing in Finnish, bringing laughter to hard moments. She loved traveling and went back to Europe to see friends and family whenever she could. She enjoyed spending time at Lake Powell with Rick, Tiina, and Carston on the family boat, exploring slot canyons and swimming in the clear cold water.
Liisa wasn't quiet about her belief that anything from Finland was the best. She always had Nokia phones, Fiskars scissors, Fazer chocolates, and salmiakki (salty black licorice) in her purse. She remained close with her mom and older sister Annele, who she called the "spud queen" for her move to Idaho. She will be remembered for her Liisa-isms - her own unique way of playing with language - to the great embarrassment of her children at times (avocado was avershnader, etc).
Liisa was always cracking jokes with a mischievous glint in her eye and a smirk on her face until the very end. She suffered with Alzheimer's for the last 5 years of her life but did her best to keep in touch with her kids, friends, and family, and keep the garden going. The cat and dog were exceedingly well fed as she'd forget she had already fed them 5 times each day. Her critters Clover and Pebbles already miss her dearly. Liisa would always tell you how much work she'd been putting into the garden and how busy she'd been with the flowers and vegetables once she was living in a memory care facility. We're so glad these memories stayed with her. She was unwilling to accept help or acknowledge she had any sort of deficit and her Finnish sisu (stubborness, grit, perseverance) remained strong until her final days, as did her desire to do things herself, her way. The best ways to cheer her up were always to ask her about gardening, dogs, or Finland.
Liisa will always be remembered for her laughter, love of children and teaching, and in the many plants she propagated that are now growing around the Salt Lake valley, across the U.S., and around the world. Her family and critters will miss her every day and her memory will live on in the hearts of all those who loved her.
Liisa was preceded in death by her parents and her sister Annele. She is survived by her husband Rick Oliver, daughter Tiina Thorley (Jay) and grandsons Rockwell and Axel, son Carston Oliver (Mary McIntyre), sisters Lenette Casper (Randy) and Leena Bryant, brother Steve Johnson (Jolene) and many friends and relatives in the U.S. and Finland.
A memorial will be held on Liisa's birthday, September 11, 2025 from 6-9pm at the Ken Garff University Club at Rice Eccles Stadium (451 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112). A short program will start at 7pm.