Olson Huff

Olson Huff, beloved pediatrician, advocate, and friend to all children, died peacefully
at home at Harmony at Reynolds Mountain on July 24, 2024. He was almost 88. Olson
was born on Campbell's Creek in Krypton, KY, the fifth of six children. He is survived by
his wife of sixty-one years, Marylyn Zibell Huff; three sons, David, Stephen (Jacquii
Burgess), Daniel (Laura Anderson); four wonderful grandchildren, Katie, Benji, Riley,
Lydia; and brother, Lloyd (Merilace Cassini). He was also blessed with nieces and
nephews, Joy Taylor (deceased), Sarah Lapusnik, Rose Moore, Robert Bottom, John
Bottom, Jerry Bottom (deceased), William Huff, Michael Huff; and a Brazilian exchange
son, Mauricio Dotta e Silva, and their families. He was predeceased by his parents,
Albert and Manda Huff, and four siblings, Cleta May Leonard, Jerald Huff, Jeanette
Bottom, and Walter Huff.
His family moved from the coal hills of Eastern Kentucky to a farm in Salem, Indiana
when Olson was 11. He went to the University of Kentucky (becoming a lifelong
Wildcats basketball fan!), and taught school a year before going to the University of
Louisville Medical School. He spent five years active duty in the Air Force as a Flight
Surgeon. He and Marylyn were married in 1963 before he shipped out to remote duty at
Takhli AFB, Thailand at the buildup to the Vietnam War. It was there he was exposed to
Agent Orange, which led to his heart disease fifty-five years later.
Olson completed his Pediatric Residency at what was then Charlotte Memorial
Hospital. During his 14 years of clinical practice in Charlotte, he completed a Fellowship
in Developmental Disabilities from UNC-Chapel Hill. The family moved to Asheville in
1982 for him to concentrate on Developmental Pediatrics. He began the team-based
Olson Huff Center for Child Development and became the first Medical Director of the
Ruth and Billy Graham Children's Health Center at Mission Hospital where he brought
many pediatric specialists to Asheville and began the children's dental program and
Tooth Bus. At his retirement dinner in 2001, the Children's Health Center was named
Mission Children's Hospital. He then co-chaired raising the 11 million dollars for the
Reuter Children's Outpatient Center.
Olson was a founding board member of the North Carolina Partnership for Children
(Smart Start) and served on numerous boards. He was always surprised when given
another award, among which were an Honorary Doctor of Science from UNC Asheville,
the NC Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the University of Kentucky College of Arts and
Sciences Hall of Fame, and the Lewis Hine Award for Service to Children and Youth
from the National Child Labor Committee.
When he was president of the NC Pediatric Society, he led NC in adopting Health
Choice, the federal Child Health Insurance Program. The American Academy of
Pediatrics recognized his work as the Chair of the Academy's Federal Affairs
Committee, by stating, "With gratitude for your compassion, dedication, and tireless
advocacy on the behalf of our nation's children. You dare us to run when others would
simply walk."
To encourage children and their families to get unplugged and to explore the
outdoors, he worked with the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation to start Kids in Parks.
There are now Track Trails in local, state, and national parks across the country. A
visionary, who changed systems, he never lost sight of the individual child and their
family.
Olson was a man of many interests and talents. He enjoyed classical music, a wide
range of books, walking the hills of his Black Mountain neighborhood with his dogs,
Strider, and then, Sadie, and digging in the dirt. As a lifelong runner, he won more 5K
races as he got older with fewer competitors! He loved hiking the WNC mountains and
fishing in the Boundary Waters with his sons. Before his heart surgery in 2018, he
completed the 11 hikes in the Swannanoa Rim Hike Series.
A wonderful storyteller and writer, he published two books, The Window of
Childhood: Glimpses of Wonder and Courage and Why the Clown Wouldn't Smile. He
co-edited and contributed to the awarding winning Caring for Your Newborn and The
Triumphant Child: Two to Four Year Olds. For several years he published the magazine
and website, the Sixty Second Parent.
He was an Elder at Montreat Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) and Grace Covenant
Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in Asheville and participated in medical mission trips to
Malawi and to the Dominican Republic. As a person who lived his faith, some said he
should have been a preacher! A verse that guided him was Micah 6:8 NRSV. "What
does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your God."
Olson demonstrated the strength of gentleness, the power gained from empowering
others, and persistence that resulted in good outcomes for the wellbeing of children. He
was a loving father, who, in the midst of a busy medical practice, always made time for
his boys and who later delighted in his grandchildren. He and his wife were partners
who supported each other in all they did. His family, co-workers, and friends loved him
as well as the many children and families he touched throughout his life.
In lieu of flowers people may make a donation to the George Masa Foundation, 71
Culvern Street, Asheville, NC 28804.
A Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday, October 26 at 11:00 am in Anderson
Auditorium in Montreat, North Carolina. There will be a reception to follow.