EDWARD E. OLSON

October 12, 1933 – September 5, 2021

Studies have proven a cognitive link between math and music. Ed Olson’s life provides additional evidence. Ed was an accomplished musician, choir director, and music teacher. He also founded a successful tax-return business. Ed is now directing a choir in heaven and certifying the Lord’s income as tax-exempt.

Edward Earl Olson was born to Mary Ann (nee’ Riley) Olson and Edward R. Olson on October 12, 1933, in Stover, Missouri. After an extended illness, he passed away on September 5, 2021, at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, California at the age of 87. Ed’s Midwestern upbringing during the Great Depression and the deprivations of World War II gave him at least two things: a strong work ethic and the tendency to save everything because he might need it someday.

Ed graduated from Eldon Missouri High School in 1951. He enlisted in the United States Navy as an airman and served his country from 1954-1955 in Key West, Florida. During that time, he developed some of his most important lifelong friendships. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, and after being honorably discharged, returned home to Missouri and obtained a teaching degree in music at Central Missouri University in Warrensburg.

On August 22, 1959, he married Linda Carolyn Fink at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Jefferson City, Missouri. After the marriage, he and Linda moved to Martinsburg, Missouri so Ed could take up a position teaching music at Community R-6 High School. In 1963, he was offered a teaching position at Emerald Junior High, in El Cajon, California, necessitating a cross-country move to Santee, California. To advance his teaching career, he received two master’s degrees in Education, one from Central Missouri University, and another at Northern Arizona State University. During this time, he also started his own business, Olson’s Tax Service, in Santee. He skillfully advised clients for over 40 years – including many who became close personal friends.

Many cherished memories of the family spring from extensive summer trips throughout the United States. Ed and Linda would pack everyone in their camper, including their two Siamese cats, Fritz and Odie, and set out on tour. Ed and Linda were also supporters of foreign exchange student programs. Zeynep Sisli from Izmir, Turkey and Patzy Hahne-Wolther, from Hamburg, Germany are considered “adopted daughters” and members of their immediate family.

Fiercely patriotic and proud of his Cherokee heritage, Ed supported the U.S. Military and Native American charities. He also had a half-century-plus passion for amateur radio, and in an emergency – or in quest of someone out of touch by more modern methods – Ed would connect people using technology that needs no wires or cell towers.

You could always find Ed with a captive audience. He was an expert story and joke teller. Some of his jokes were funnier than others, but he sold them all with a contagious laugh and wicked grin. He also had an opinion on virtually any subject or situation, solicited or not.

Ed is survived by his wife Linda Olson (née Fink), daughters Carolynne Olson and Kerry Olson, grandchildren Kelsie Peterson and Erik Peterson, brother Martin Olson, sister-in-law Marilyn Fink, nieces Nancy Windsor, Kelly Grunden, and Leann Hager, and nephew David Hanson.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his nephew Andrew Olson II, two brothers-in-law, Wendell Hanson and James Fink, and sisters-in-law, Jeane Hanson and Penny Olson.

Ed was a member of Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Santee and proudly served as its music and choir director for many years. It is there that his funeral mass will be celebrated by Fr. Andre Ramos at October 15 at 10:00 a.m. A brief luncheon will follow. After the luncheon, Ed will be interred at Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary in San Diego. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Guardian Angels Catholic Church or the Wounded Warriors Project.