Keith Olson

Keith A. Olson,age 72 of Forest Lake, MN, passed away peacefully at the University of MN hospital surrounded by his family on June 26 while awaiting a transplant due to a hereditary liver disease. The family would like to thank the staff at the University for the kind, compassionate care he received. Keith was born in Madison, WI on November 10, 1936. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in electrical engineering in 1960. He was employed at Honeywell, ATK, and Medtronic. While at Honeywell, he spent several years at the Johnson Space Center working on the Apollo project. He is survived by his wife Lilly and children, Erik (Michele), Kirsten (Karen Hogan), Aaron (Stephanie); grandchildren, Kendra, Kate, Michael, Elin, Emmett, Nathan; sister Susan (Larry) Stewart; brother Donald (Bonnie); many nieces and nephews. Keith was a Scoutmaster of Troop 487 for 15 years. During that time he guided 50 Scouts along their way to becoming Eagle Scouts. They went on many high adventure trips to Philmont, N.M., Alaska, Florida, Hawaii plus the National Jamboree. Later, he formed the Cutting Edge Skating Association. He enjoyed teaching and skating competitively for several years. During a trip to Tanzania in 2002, he became concerned with the lack of clean water in rural areas. When he returned home, he helped organize St. Paul Partners (a Tanzanian Water Development Program). He returned to TZ many times to set up a well drilling program and teach well drilling and pump repair to the Tanzanians. They have now drilled over 100 wells in villages in the Iringa area. Many more villages need clean water so the work goes on.

A Memorial Service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, August 15, 2009 at Faith Lutheran Church, 886 North Shore Drive, Forest Lake. The family will greet friends one hour prior to the service. Memorials preferred to St. Paul Partners, Troop 487 Swenson Campership Fund or Faith Lutheran Church.