Obit of Olson, Theda - Garfield County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 31 Dec 2006 Return to Garfield County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/garfield/garfield.html ===================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ===================================================================== ::Santa Rosa Memorial Park--Windsor CA Santa Rosa Press Democrat Published on November 1, 2001 Theda L. Olson, a retired nursing assistant, died Saturday in Santa Rosa. She was 82. Born in Enid, Okla., her family left there in the late 1930s, leaving her devastated native state to face the Great Depression together in California. "These were real `Grapes of Wrath' people. They went to Los Banos first, but ended up here and stayed," said daughter Sue Nobriga. Graduating from Santa Rosa High School in 1937, Olson went to work at Community Hospital of Sonoma County, where she worked for more than 55 years. Franklin Roosevelt was president and America hadn't yet entered World War II when Olson started out helping patients in what was essentially a very small tuberculosis and polio ward. "In those days, the hospital was very small, and she was the first one there in the morning and the last one there at night. She was like that all her life. She said she was paid to work, not to take breaks," her daughter said. She met her husband-to-be, Edwin, when he was a patient at the hospital following an automobile accident that injured his knee. "My dad was in the military and he took one look at my mom and declared he would marry her," Nobriga said of her parents, who married in 1945. Edwin Olson, who worked in the lumber industry, died in 1995. The Olsons had two children, Dennis and Sue, and a series of pet dogs -- a big dog for him and a little dog for her -- that are remembered as benchmarks for family history. "Her last, and favorite little dog, was Corky, a cocker spaniel-corgi mix that died just two months before her. And we still have Dad's golden retriever, Beau. He's old, but he's still running the place," Nobriga said of the 13-year-old neighborhood companion. Mother and daughter worked together in the 1970s at the hospital, where Nobriga came to understand her mother's dedication to her patients and employer. Over the years, Olson formed many close friendships with patients and their families. She also found time to garden at home, giving special attention to her camellias, azaleas and roses. In addition to her daughter Sue and son, Dennis Olson, she is survived by granddaughters Amy Rocha of Troutdale, Ore., and Krista Kalemba of Penngrove; grandson Ryan Olson of Sebastopol; great- grandson Matthew Kalemba; sisters-in-law Eleanor Chrestionson and Neta Olson; and numerous nieces and nephews. Friends are invited to attend memorial services at 4 p.m. Saturday at Daniels Chapel of the Roses, Santa Rosa. Private inurnment will be at Santa Rosa Memorial Park. Donations are requested in Olson's name to Sutter VNA and Hospice, 1110 N. Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa 95401; or Shriners Hospitals for Children, 2425 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento 95817. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Garfield County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/garfield/garfield.html