Ordell P. Olson of Mechanicsville, Va., passed away April 23, 2007. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clara and Jens Olson of Ft. Ransom. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie Olson, daughter Jennifer and her husband Jim and son Jamie, all of Mechanicsville, and his son Mark of Houston, Texas. He is also survived by his sister, Janice Denler of Tinley Park, Ill.
Ordell graduated from Fort Ransom High School in 1947. He attended Minot State College where he was inducted into Kappa Delta Pi. He received the LaVerne Noyes Scholarship and transferred to North Dakota State. He was secretary of the Co-op House, secretary of the Agronomy Club, and a member of Saddle and Sirloin. He graduated in 1953.
In 1954-1955 he attended the University of Oslo on a Fulbright Scholarship. In between his studies he visited all of his relatives in Norway on both sides of the family. Upon returning to North Dakota he worked as a Soil Surveyor for North Dakota State.
He attended South Dakota State University where he received his Masters and Oregon State University for his PhD. He was Assistant Professor of Economics at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Ill., for five years. In 1969 he joined the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, DC and lived in Alexandria, Va., for 31 years.
He was an active member of the Potomac Curling Club for all those years and served as President for 5 years. In 2000 he and Marjorie moved to Mechanicsville to be near their children and grandson Jamie.
A memorial service for Ordell will be held at the Stiklestad Cemetery, outside Fort Ransom, at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, June 27, 2008. The Rev. David Carlson of Standing Rock Lutheran Church in Fort Ransom will be officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Stiklestad Cemetery, 5646 Hwy. 32, Enderlin, ND 58027.
This obituary is printed in full because it is a paid obituary.
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