Donald Henry Olson

Born to Henry and Martha Olson in Fairbanks, AK on November 11th, 1952. Siblings: Warren (Denny), Elaine, and Steve. Donald (Don/Donny) Henry Olson was an extremely intelligent boy. He learned to read at age 3, having been taught by his older sister. When he started school, he was skipped ahead to grade 2. Donald was a lifelong learner and found interest in all kinds of knowledge. He was an avid reader of mostly non-fiction. He enjoyed trivia and was a faithful watcher of Jeopardy since the 1970s. If he was to ever be on the show, I'm certain he would have won. 

He met this love of his life; Annett Gamble in high school and after a long courtship, they were married in 1981. Together they had 2 children: Martin and Dana. Donald was a reliable, hard worker to support his family and was employed by Frontier Lumber for over 30 years. As a young man, he was very handy and built much of the house the family lived in. He liked cooking/grilling, and good whisky and gin. He was a softspoken man of few words, he enjoyed the simple things in life and was not extravagant or flashy. He traveled to Norwegian (Nordby) family reunions over the years, went to gatherings with friends (Robert Anderson, Larry Roxby, and Ray Atkinson, "Auntie" Murle, and many others), and took pleasure in the outdoors with many family camping trips. He loved the music of Jethro Tull: going to several of their concerts and blasted it LOUDLY at home on many occasions. 

One of his biggest adventures was a trip to New Zealand with Annett - which they would think about often in all the years after. Battling cancer and other resulting ailments took a toll on Donald in the last 15 years of his life, but throughout it all he remained positive and steadfast. He was there for holidays, birthdays, shcool performances and cared deeply for his 3 granddaughters Sidnee, Teegan and Paislee. 

Donald was a good man, a son, a brother, a husband, a father, grandfather, and a friend. He will be dearly missed.