Frederick Willard Olson
Sept. 29, 1932-June 12, 2017
Palo Alto, California

In Loving Memory Frederick W. Olson 9/29/32 - 6/12/17

Frederick W. Olson passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 12, 2017. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Dr. Frederick A. Olson and Geneva Lynn Olson on September 29, 1932.

Fred is survived by his wife of 56 years, Nancy Olson; daughter, Mary “Mo” Olson (Christopher Friesen); brother, Francis “Gus” Olson (Jane); sisters, Sarah Turner (Jim) and Maryel Olson (David Brooks); and many much-loved nieces and nephews.

He graduated from Fortuna High School (Humboldt County). He worked as a forest fire fighter the summers before and after his senior year. He then attended U.C. Berkeley as an engineering student. He left before graduating and joined the army where he was stationed in Germany. He used any time off to “see” Germany, Paris and London. When he left the army he returned to college as an Economics major. He was hired by IBM in San Francisco in 1957. Over the years, he served the company in many capacities working directly with his customers. He received many company awards and received many letters of gratitude from his customers.

In 1958 he met Nancy when she was one of his customers and they were married in 1960. They lived in San Francisco where daughter Mary was born in 1962. They later lived in Berkeley, and San Rafael and then Palo Alto where they lived for 44 years.

Fred retired from IBM after 37 years. He then worked for a start-up company, Camstar, for an additional 6 years. He really was a workaholic and had to slowly slide into retirement.

Fred had been troubled by lingering medical conditions for several years, which eventually had left him with a very slow gait, limited vision and lastly the inability to talk above a whisper. While this was very tiring, Fred never complained and remained alert and independent. He always retained his sense of humor.

Fred and Nancy were active members of First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto. They had attended a class on the Sunday evening prior to his passing. He was also very supportive of the Democratic Party.

Fred was a dearly-loved husband and father and brother.

Tags: veteran, business