Reo Olsen

Reo W. Olsen, age 90, of Fargo, ND, died Sunday, May 2, 2004, at Elim Care Center in Fargo.

Reo Wilton Olsen was born at Rutland, ND, on Dec. 18, 1913. He grew up and received his education in the Rutland area, where he graduated from high school. In the late 1930s he graduated from UND in Grand Forks, ND.
During World War II, Reo served as an officer and pilot in the US Navy. He was stationed in Florida, Kansas, and North Carolina. He was discharged as a Lt. Commander. While he was in the Navy, he was united in marriage to Geneva Helgeson on December 24, 1941, at Pensacola, Florida.

After his discharge from the Navy, the family made their home in Grand Forks, where Reo worked for Nash Finch. They later moved to Bismarck, ND, where he worked for the North Dakota Unemployment Compensation Division. Reo then worked for Minneapolis-Moline Farm Equipment Company, and the family lived in a number of Midwest communities. Later, Reo worked for GE Credit division in Palatine, IL.
In about 1967, the family moved to Moorhead, MN, where Reo worked in the real estate industry until he retired in 1974. After retirement, Reo and Geneva wintered in Florida and spent summers at their lake home on Rush Lake, near Perham, MN. In 1994, the couple returned to Moorhead to live. They later moved to Elim Pioneer House Assisted Living in Fargo, ND, and in 2003, Reo became a resident of Elim Care Center.

Reo is survived by his wife, Geneva, Fargo; two sons, Roger (Carole) Olsen, Moorhead, and Mark (Marilyn) Olsen, Helena, MT; two daughters, Cheryl Kelly, Durham, NC, and Donna (Mark) Voxland, Moorhead; two sisters, Doris Wanberg, Fargo, and Margie (Paul) Ray, Grand Forks; twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.


Memorial service: Thursday, May 6, 2004, at 1:30 PM,
Chapel of Elim Care Center,
Fargo, North Dakota.


Inurnment: Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Fort Snelling, MN.