Ronald Leroy Olson

About Ronald

Ronald Leroy Olson, 76, of Bemidji, MN died Thursday, November 17, 2022 at his home in Bemidji.

Ronald Leroy Olson was born in Dishman Township, Spokane County, Washington, on June 3, 1946, to parents Leroy Olson and Margie Henderson Olson. He grew up and attended elementary and middle schools in Seattle, Spokane, and St. Louis, Missouri. He completed his public-school education at Walla Walla High School in Washington, graduating near the top of his class in June of 1964.

In addition to working part-time for the local public library, Ron was active during his high school years in band, journalism, drama, and the International Club. He served as President of the high school Thespians chapter and worked on the school newspaper, the Wa-Hi Journal, contributing many articles, essays, and poems for publication in it. He excelled in all his academic subjects, especially French, English Literature, and creative writing.

Ronald’s education after high school included earning a Bachelor of Arts with honors in English from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and a Masters of Library Science from the University of Washington in Seattle.

In the military, he received training as a Quartermaster and served in that capacity with the US Army in Korea, receiving a Medal of Merit for his exceptional performance there.

Places of residence have included Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. After some years there, he moved from the West Coast to the Midwest, living first in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. After the flooding of the Red River of the North, he relocated to Cranston, MN, and then again to Bemidji, Minnesota, where he has resided for many years.

Ronald was preceded in death by his parents, Leroy Olson in 2016 and Margie Middendorf in 2014, andhis step-father, Leo Middendorf in 2015.

Cousins from grandparents Peter and Ella Olson and John and Ethel Henderson number close to 30, living mostly in the West and Midwest.

memorial service

Interment will be at the Ft. Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN

Funeral/Cremation Provider: Cease Family Funeral Home