Grieg Alan Olson's Obituary
Grieg Alan Olson passed away peacefully into the loving arms of our Lord, Jesus Christ, on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. He is survived by his wife, Betty Olson; son, Alan Stuart Olson of Fairfax, VA; and daughter, Jamie Lynn Waters and Peter of Chicago, IL. And by his brothers: Judd Olson and Dee of Flower Mound, TX; Kurt Olson and Amy of Freeland, MI; and Lee Olson of Wasilla, AK.
Grieg had a blessed 64 years. Born June 30, 1960, in St. Paul, Minnesota, he was the 4th and youngest child of Charlotte May Sandin and Merriam (Mike) Leslie Olson. Grieg’s parents led him to be active in church which was central to his life, and he enjoyed serving God. His interests in nature, physics, and astronomy were based in his awe for God’s creation. He loved his family deeply and treasured his time with them. In addition, the love of physics carried him into a successful career in Fiber Optics with 3M, Corning Incorporated, and Northrop Grumman.
Grieg was raised in a Baptist General Conference Church in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. On the suggestion of a friend, he joined the staff at Trout Lake Camp, a Baptist camp in Pine River, Minnesota, where his parents met each other. He enjoyed adventures working there for the next several years as a camp counselor and maintenance crew. As an adult he also did service with the church, beginning at Hill Country Bible Church, in Austin where he found an interest in operating the sound console and built a close friendship with the other sound engineer. He continued that specialized service in Corning, NY after the family moved there, and he especially enjoyed engineering the sound for the church’s theatrical productions. After the family moved to Connecticut in 2003, his sound engineering connected him with the church leadership. And eventually he was elected Administrative Chair at Trinity Covenant Church in Manchester, CT.
Growing up, Grieg enjoyed camping, riding his bicycle and later skiing with the ski club in high school. Grieg enjoyed fixing things, and most of the things he fixed ended up being better than they were before. Even at a very young age, he loved science and developed a keen interest in optics as early as middle school. Telescopes, microscopes, cameras and photography all filled his time, and he won 3rd place with a photograph at the Minnesota State Fair! It was the beginning of a lifetime of photography and astronomy. In college he developed an interest in astronomy, and occasionally, he would run the college observatory on public viewing nights. He enjoyed binocular astronomy, and when he was 60 his children finally gave him a telescope of his own, which saw many starry nights, planetary motions, and a solar eclipse.
Loved dearly by his family, Grieg treasured spending time with them. He met Betty, the love of his life, in Tucson, AZ, in a bible study group in 1982, and they hit it off pretty quickly, enjoying their faith, music, and nature. They were married on New Year’s Eve in 1983, and Alan was born in 1986 and Jamie in 1989. Grieg was a wonderful loving father, and very involved in their lives. He adored his family and enjoyed life with them, supporting their endeavors and spending time camping, stargazing, star trekking, hiking, traveling, working, eating, reading, and watching movies together with them. He even learned to dance with Betty just to make her happy! They showed off their dance moves just this year at their summer celebration of their 40th anniversary with a few friends and family.
Grieg graduated White Bear Mariner High School in 1978, and he went on to Wheaton College in Illinois to study physics. He was a member of the Sigma Pi Sigma physics honor society and became president of the Society of Physics Students’ Physics Club. In 1982, he graduated from Wheaton with High Honors with a Bachelor of Science in Physics. Grieg was accepted into a graduate program at University of Arizona, which brought him to Tucson, and graduated with an MS in Optical Science in 1985.
He and Betty moved north when he took a good job in Minnesota with 3M. Throughout his 3M career, Grieg earned 11 patents and several corporate awards for technical excellence. He worked for 3M for 16 years, six years in Minnesota and then ten years in Austin, Texas. The family moved to Upstate New York for his work for Corning Incorporated, before his involvement with the Optical Fiber Conference connected him to Adaptive Optics Associates (AOA) who offered him a position in East Hartford, CT. He started work at AOA, now owned by Northrop Grumman, at the end of October 2003, and just recently celebrated his 20th year working with them."
Grieg’s co-workers have said: “Over the years, I’ve seen you handle our successes & meet our challenges with the same clear thinking, spirit of innovation, & respectful conduct. I can’t count the number of times your insight gently guided us along the right path.” And he is “the best impersonation of an engineer by a physicist I have ever had the pleasure to work with.” They remember him well: “Grieg is a fantastic colleague and a fantastic person. He has become a highly respected technical expert in our special community.”
Grieg is cherished in our hearts, and already missed, for our world has been made better by having him in it. Rest in Peace with God, Grieg.
A Memorial Service followed by a reception will be held at 1:30pm on Saturday, October 19, 2024, at Trinity Covenant Church, 302 Hackmatack Street, Manchester, CT 06040.
On Friday, November 15, 2024, a Visitation at 1pm, and a Memorial Service at 2pm, followed by a burial and reception, will be held at Restland Funeral Home and Cemetery, starting in the Wildwood Chapel, which is the chapel in the cemetery, located at 13005 Greenville Ave., Dallas, TX 75243.
Memorial Donations may be made to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Go to:
https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/
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