Donald John OLSON

OLSON, DRUGG, AMELSBERG, DAVIDS, BROWN, SCHULTE, STEIFF, TRAIL, WESTERBERG

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 3/9/2007 at 19:42:42

FOREST CITY - Donald J. Olson, 89, of Forest City, died Tuesday (March 6, 2007) at Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City. Funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 12, 2007, at the First Baptist Church in Forest City with Pastor Doug Snyder officiating. Burial will be at Oakland Cemetery in Forest City. Visitation will be from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 11, 2007, at the Petersen Lund Funeral Home, 505 N. Clark St., Forest City and an hour prior to service at the church.

Born July 3, 1917, in Forest City, Donald John was the son of John A. and Ellen Matilda Drugg Olson. He was raised in Forest City and graduated from Forest City High School in 1935. After graduation, Don attended Waldorf College and later worked in his father's furniture store. Donald purchased the furniture store with his brother, Lloyd, in 1940. On March 3, 1942, Donald began his service with the Army Air Corps. During World War II, he served as a communications supply technician for a radio signal corps, having been stationed in India and China. In 1946, Sergeant Olson received his honorable discharge and returned to Iowa, where he enrolled in a cabinet-making school in Des Moines. He then became employed by Maynard Eames Construction in Forest City. On Nov. 28, 1947, he married Alpha Jean Olson in Forest City. The couple moved to Hampton, where Don was employed at the Hampton Furniture Store. In 1953, he purchased the Coast-to-Coast Hardware Store in Belmond, which he operated for 20 years. He sold the business in 1973 and worked part time for the Fullerton Lumber Co. and Meyer Brothers Construction in Belmond. He later built speculation homes, delivered new Winnebago motor homes to dealers around the country and drove a school bus for the Belmond School District.

On May 10, 1974, Alpha Olson preceded her husband in death. Don moved back to his hometown of Forest City in 1978. On Feb. 17, 1979, he married Eva Amelsberg. Don was a charter member of the Belmond Bible Church (now known as the Evangelical Free Church) and was a member of the First Baptist Church in Forest City. In earlier years he found great success as a pitcher in the Belmond Church Softball League. He enjoyed woodworking, golfing, playing checkers and card games. He especially loved spending time with his family.

Survivors include his wife, Eva, of Forest City; three daughters, Anita (Jim) Davids, of Urbandale, Jennifer (Steve) Brown, of Fort Dodge, and Wendy Schulte, of Brooklyn Park, Minn.; two sons, Kevin (Robin) Olson, of Coon Rapids, Minn., and Tim (Sally) Olson, of Mt. Pleasant; a stepson, Jim (Lorraine) Amelsberg, of Forest City; a stepdaughter, Julie (Alan) Steiff, of Brainerd, Minn.; eight grandchildren, four stepgrandchildren, four great-grandchildren and three stepgreat-grandchildren. Also surviving is a sister, Esther Trail of Roselle, Ill., along with numerous nieces, nephews and other family members and friends. Don was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife, Alpha; one sister, Dorothy Westerberg; and a brother, Lloyd Olson. Petersen Lund Funeral Home.

Mason City Globe Gazette 3/8/2007