Ronald Wayne Olson passed away in Royal Inland Hospital on October 16, 2014 after a short battle with cancer.
Left behind to grieve his loss are his family who loved him dearly: his wife of 33 years, Alice; step-daughters, Diane (Russ) Steele, Esther Webster; sisters, Darlene (Roy) Braaten, Shyrell Pyrch; brother, Cliff (Betty) Olson; aunt, Violet Machmer, uncle and aunt, Cliff and Marj Rock; numerous cousins, nieces and nephews, step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren.
Predeceased by his father Ernest George Olson, mother Idy Lillian (Rock) Olson, sister Violet Meek.
Ronnie was born at the New Westminster Hospital on December 23, 1941. He lived in Hammond, B.C. until 1950 when he moved to Clearwater with his parents. He attended both elementary and high school here in Clearwater. Ronnie then was mainly employed in the North Thompson area forest industry, from Clearwater in both the gang and saw mills to Birch Island, Vavenby and Blue River. In 1981 he met Alice and together they spent 25 years working and enjoying Clearwater. He retired in 1997 when, with the tremendous community support from the citizens of Clearwater, he underwent a heart transplant. In 2007 Ronnie and Alice moved to Kamloops as health travel was becoming more difficult. There they enjoyed having coffee with friends, music in the park and gardening.
Ronnie was a quiet man who loved and felt blessed with such a wonderful family. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, oil painting, gardening and woodworking. He loved the outdoors. As a young fellow his favourite job was working with BC Parks building trails in the Wells Gray and building the North Thompson campground. He always felt Clearwater to be his home and always loved reminiscing with others about the history of the town and its people. He will be so very missed by us all.