Curtis O. Olson

Curtis O. Olson age 66 of Belle Fourche died Saturday October 10, 2009 at the Fort Meade VA Medical Center in Sturgis, SD. The memorial service will be held 10am Saturday October 17th, 2009 at Funeral Home of the Northern Hills in Belle Fourche. Inurnment will be held at Black Hills National Cemetery, near Sturgis. There will be no visitation. Curtis Odin Olson was born December 2, 1942 in Veblen South Dakota. He was the son of Clarence and Olga (Hoines) Olson. Curtis grew up on a family farm near Veblen, where he graduated from high school in 1960. A few years later he graduated from the Aberdeen School of Business and shortly after became employed by Rayette Inc. in Minneapolis. During the Vietnam War, Curtis served his country for two years, and was honorably discharged in 1966. For several years he worked for the American Can Company in Minneapolis, before returning to Veblen when his parent’s health was in decline. On November 28, 1981 Curtis was married to Jan Grelk in Sisseton, SD. Following their marriage they lived in Sisseton where they raised their family which included their two sons, Joshua and Michael. For the past 40 years or more, Curtis has worked as a heavy equipment operator for road construction companies, all over the state of South Dakota and the neighboring states. Most of these years, he has worked for the Knights Contracting Company which is based in Webster, SD. In 2005, Curtis and Jan moved to Belle Fourche where they have lived since. Curtis was a hard worker, and he was one who loved his job and was good at it. During his younger years, he loved the times he could watch his boys play in various school sports and activities. He liked to hunt deer, pheasants, ducks, and geese. Curtis died two weeks and one day after being diagnosed with cancer. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. Curtis is survived by his wife, Jan of Belle Fourche; sons, Joshua (Jessica) of Aberdeen, Michael of Sioux Falls; 2 grandchildren, Jodey and Kylie of Aberdeen; brothers, Clarence (Sandy) Olson of Watertown, Meloy (Marion) Olson of Havre, Montana; sister, Marlene (Ken) Forgey of Redfield SD; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents.