Dennis Olenski

Dennis Olenski, age 80, of Appleton, WI passed away at home with his wife at his side on August 10.  A Celebration of Life is planned for Thursday, September 14 at Wichmann Funeral Home Tri-County Chapel from 1-4pm, with Military Honors immediately following.

Denny, as he was commonly known, grew up in Superior, WI.  He worked briefly in Detroit before serving in the Army as a Security Analyst stationed in the Philippines for 2 years.  His work involved computers back when a computer filled an entire room.  After the military Denny moved his family to Chicago. He joined FMC as a computer analyst and often traveled for work.  In the mid-70’s he moved to the Fox Cities and took a job with Kimberly-Clark in Information Technology where he worked for 28 years, visiting most of their North American mill locations.  He met his wife Kathy at work to whom he was married for 32 years.

Denny was an avid outdoorsman.  He enjoyed working outside, hunting (sometimes with his dog Jake) and all kinds of fishing.  In later years he especially enjoyed charter fishing on Green Lake.  He delighted in watching deer and other wildlife in the backyard of his home, including a variety of birds.  In addition to the outdoors, Denny enjoyed reading, watching the Badgers and Packers, making maple syrup, and beekeeping.  He began ballroom dancing after he retired, even performing a dance routine.  He was proud to have travelled to all 50 states and always had a story or two about the places he had travelled and the people he had encountered. 

Denny is survived by his wife Kathy, daughter Christine (Joel) Freier, son Michael (Vicky) Olenski, brother William (Marcy) Olenski, sisters Cathy Williams, Margaret (Mark) McCarthy, Mary (Brad) Tafs and 4 grandchildren Jacob, Jordan (John), Bailey, Brenna.  He was preceded in death by his parents Chester and Bernice Olenski and one brother-in-law, Donald Williams.