Doris Olson

1926 - 2026

Doris Olson's Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 1:00 pm at St Marks Methodist Church. There will be a light reception to follow at the church and later a taco truck lunch at Sutter Lawn Tennis Club.

Doris Olson died peacefully in her Carmichael home of 71 years. She was a devoted mother, grandmother, friend and community member. She lived with an open, loving heart for all of humanity. She graduated from UC Berkeley where she met her husband Erling "Ole" Olson as he was returning from serving as a pilot in the Navy's Black Cat Squadron in the South Pacific during WWII. The couple were married for 60 years and had four children - Glenn,Inga,Linda and Nancy,eight grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

Doris loved to travel and especially enjoyed camping with her family on the California coast, Lake Tahoe, Sonora Pass, Yosemite, and the East side of the Sierras. During the summer, they often traveled through the Tetons, Yellowstone and the Badlands on their way to Wildrose, North Dakota, where Ole helped harvest wheat on the family farm. Later, Doris traveled throughout the world, to Scandinavia, Africa, the Galapagos Islands and on a humanitarian trip to Haiti with her church.

A pioneer in special education, Doris was a dedicated teacher at Mission Avenue School and an administrator in the San Juan Unified School District. She was instrumental in integrating special needs children into general classrooms and taught part-time in the education department at CSUS. As a Fulbright Fellow she traveled to India where she met Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Following her cross-cultural education work in the Central Valley, she was invited to return to India on a second Fulbright Fellowship.

Doris lived her values and was a devoted member of St. Marks United Methodist Church and served in the Stephen Ministry and as a Family Promise volunteer supporting unhoused families. She spent many years volunteering at Wellspring Women's Center and teaching literacy to elementary-age students. Doris was known for her indefatigable positive spirit, her undiminishable enthusiasm for life, and her unconditional love of people.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Family Promise of Sacramento, the Effie Yeaw Nature Center or Sacramento Loaves and Fishes.