Nov. 24, 1928 – June 8, 2020
Jack Olson was born in Port Angeles on Nov. 24, 1928, to Jack and Anna Maria Kinney Olson. He started out his life on the Quillayute Prairie but the family soon moved to a home at Mora, Wa. Even though it was the depression he had an idyllic childhood growing up along the banks of the Quillayute River; fishing, ice skating on James Pond, and riding his bike to Rialto Beach.
His sister Marjorie joined the family when he was twelve.
He attended schools on the Quillayute Prairie, at Forks and later Port Angeles.
With the impending acquisition by the National Park of the coastal strip along the Washington coast the family moved to Port Angeles where in 1942, due to the lack of workers during WWII, he got a special driving/work permit to drive delivery truck for McCarts Grocery, he was just 14 years old.
It was a few years later when he was a junior in high school that he quit school, his heart was in the West End, and he returned to go to work in the timber industry at Sappho Camp. One of his first jobs was driving a dump truck for Rayonier, the truck a 1941 Ford had no doors or mirrors.
He was drafted in 1950 into the US Army, training at Fort Lewis and serving at Mannheim-Sandhofen, Germany with the 95th AAA Gun Battalion until 1952.
Upon his return home, he met and later married June Pedersen on Nov. 27, 1953; they had three children Christi, Shelli, and Brian, and would have celebrated 67 years of marriage in November.
After working in the timber industry for others, in 1964, he and the late Richard Miller formed Olson and Miller Logging. In the early days of the company, he would chase, limb, run the shovel (log loader) and drive the log truck; working from 4 a.m. – 7 p.m. He would sometimes stop on Sol Duc Way, pick up the family and they would ride into Port Angeles to dump the last load. Over the years the company grew and became one of the largest employers on the West End. The partnership dissolved in 1982.
Jack was well known for his finesse running a line shovel. He loaded hundreds and hundreds of loads of logs in his career.
He eventually went back to driving dump truck and drove until he was 83 years old …several times putting a for sale sign in the truck and then removing it if another job came up.
He was recognized as Hickory Shirt/Heritage Days Pioneer Logger in 2000 and by the Clallam County Fair in 2004.
Even though he was self-employed for most of his life he always took time for family; going fishing, camping, and spending time at Eagle Point at Sekiu at the family lot, where many great times were had!
He loved to read and do yard work and then there was the firewood cutting ….
Jack is preceded in death by his parents and his brother-in-law George Dahll.
He is survived by his wife June, children Christi (Howard) Baron, Shelli (Jim) Leons and Brian (Lissy Andros) Olson; grandchildren Lucas Larson, Amanda Larson, Cameron Leons and Alexis Leons; great-grandchildren Blake Hinchen and Haidynn Hinchen and great-great-grandchild Layton Leons, born June 19, 2020, all of Forks.
He is also survived by his sister Marjorie Dahll, nephews Martin Dahll and Daniel Dahll and niece Carla German all of Sequim and nephew Joel Dahll of Portland, OR.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Forks Timber Museum, P.O. Box 873, Forks, WA 98331 or the Logger’s Memorial Fund, P. O. Box 2135, Forks, WA 98331.
