Benita Olson

Benita ("Jane") Olson May 20, 1927 - Dec. 24, 2011 Jane was called to God on Christmas Eve at the age of 84 in Los Altos after a year-long battle with cancer. An Oakmont (Santa Rosa) resident from 1988-2011, Jane was born Shirley Ann Althaus in Iowa and was adopted by Phil and Benita McCormick of Chicago. In Chicago she attended St. Dorothy Elementary School, Mercy High School, and worked at Marshall Field before attending college at the University of New Mexico. A love for travel led Jane to a career with Delta Airlines, and later, with Trans World Airlines. She traveled extensively and eventually met her husband-to-be, Eldon ("Ole") Olson, at TWA in San Francisco. Jane and Ole married in Carmel in 1960, joined by a small but close group of friends, after making the trip from the Bay Area in a Volkswagen Beetle. After giving birth to an only child, Suzanne Elizabeth, in 1962, Jane left her career in air travel. The small family spent most of their years together in San Carlos, where Jane was a wonderful mother and a vibrant co-leader of Suzanne's Bluebird and Camp Fire Girl troops. Jane was particularly fond of History and English and could make each subject sparkle and come alive, telling fascinating stories and anecdotes with her wonderfully warm smile, rosy complexion, and stunning blue eyes. Musical talent came naturally, and songs were learned and played on piano by ear; Jane's deep fondness for Gershwin compositions was evident in her emotive, woven tapestries at the keyboard. Upon Ole's retirement, Jane and Ole left the Bay Area for the Santa Rosa community of Oakmont, where they enjoyed wine country life together until Ole's untimely death in 1994. Jane remained at Oakmont, where she enjoyed a large group of wonderfully supportive friends and neighbors, with whom she enjoyed history courses and regular games of Bocce Ball. Suzanne and her husband, Mark Wieland, M.D., would like to thank the support of friends and family, and the staffs of The Terraces at Los Altos and Pathways Hospice for their wonderful love and care over the past ten months. A memorial Mass will be held on Friday, January 6th, at 1pm at Star of the Valley Catholic Church in Santa Rosa. Star of the Valley is located at 545 White Oak Way in the Oakmont community.