Olle Edward Haggstrom

1925 - 2023

Olle Edward Haggstrom
Olle Edward Haggstrom went to join his beloved wife of 67 years, Elaine, on January 2, 2023. He was 97 and a half astounding years old.
Olle was born in Burea, Sweden on May 14, 1925, to Edward and Ruth Lindh Haggstrom. He and his mother came to the United States in 1929, joining his father in Black Rock, Connecticut who had immigrated the year before. He attended Bridgeport public schools, graduating from Bassick High School in 1943. He promptly enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the European Theatre during World War II as a demolition's expert. He celebrated his 20th birthday less than 2 weeks after VE day in 1945 and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant, in 1946.
Given his mechanical drawing skills, he was hired as a draftsman by the General Electric Company in March of 1946. It wasn't long before he was given small details of design to work out on his own, and he was hooked. He needed a formal education in design. He applied to the industrial design program at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, starting in September of 1947 and graduating in the spring of 1950. On September 16, he married his sweetheart, Elaine, and returned to work at GE as a junior designer. Olle elected to transfer to their major appliance park in Louisville, Kentucky in 1952, returning once more to Bridgeport as the manager of industrial design of housewares products in 1960. He and Elaine purchased a home in Trumbull and settled in to raise their two children. While working full-time, he went back to school at the University of Bridgeport, and in 1974 earned his BS degree. Olle retired in 1985 and went on to enjoy many more years of helping a multitude of people with an equal number of projects.
Olle was a member of St. Matthew's Lodge 906 F & AM of the Freemasons in Louisville, Kentucky and the Pyramid Shrine #9 in Stratford, Connecticut. His design work on an innovative braille typewriter earned him the honor of being named a Kentucky Colonel. He was a fellow in the Industrial Design Society of America and an active member of the Nichols United Methodist Church, where he received a UMW service award in 1991. Nobody could wash dishes like Olle. This is only a partial list of the organizations, and subsequently individuals, touched by his generous spirit and remarkable ingenuity. He truly lived by the masonic principles that honor and integrity are the keys to a meaningful life, and the importance of working to make the world a better place for all.
Olle leaves behind his children and their spouses, Carl and Paula Haggstrom, Susan Haggstrom and Deborah Cressler, and Emina and David Darakjy, his grandchildren, Matthew Haggstrom, Eric and Emily Haggstrom, Salima Darakjy and Mehdi Darakjy, and his great-grandchildren, Kaylee Elaine and Neil Robert Haggstrom. In his honor and his memory, we will collectively try to fill his enormous shoes.
Friends are invited to join his family in celebrating Olle's life on April 20th (Thursday) from 4-8PM in the Blue Goose Restaurant 326 Ferry Blvd., Stratford. His burial in Mountain Grove Cemetery will be private. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Larson Funeral Home Preplanning & Cremation Services.
In lieu of flowers, please remember Olle with contributions to mission projects of the Nichols United Methodist Church, 35 Shelton Road, Trumbull, CT 06611 or the Shriners Children's Hospital, 516 Carew Street, Springfield, MA 01104. To sign his online guest register, please visit www.LarsonFH.com