James D. Olson
July 25, 1925-March 6, 2019
James D. Olson, 93, of
Minot and Mesa, AZ, died
on March 6, 2019 at his
winter home in Mesa.
James Derald Olson was
born on July 25, 1925 in
Guthrie, ND to Clarence
and Rose (Beutler) Olson.
He was raised and educat-ed in Minot and graduat-
ed from Minot High
School in 1943. He en-
tered the U.S. Navy in
September of 1943, at-
tended radio school at the
University of Illinois and
served in the Pacific
Theatre of Operations of
World War II until his
honorable discharge in
April of 1946. Following
his discharge, he returned
to Minot where he began
employment with the
Great Northern Railroad
as a brakeman. He was
promoted to conductor in
1957 and retired from the
Burlington Northern Rail-
road in 1987 after 41
years.
Jim served as local
chairman for the United
Transportation Union and
as president for the Rail-
road Safety Committee.
He was also a licensed
real estate salesman for
Minot Realty beginning in
1962 and continued with
Coldwell Banker as a
broker/associate. He re-
tired as a real estate agent
in 2014 at the age of 89.
Jim married Audrey
Warke on November 27,
1948 at First Lutheran
Church in Minot. They
made their home in Minot
where they raised their
three daughters. In addi-
tion to residing in Minot,
Jim and Audrey main-
tained a lake home at
Lake Metigoshe for 48
years and a winter home
in Mesa, AZ for 20 years.
Jim especially enjoyed
playing cards, playing
pool and traveling.
Jim’s loving family in-
cludes: his wife of 70
years, Audrey; children:
Rosanne Olson (Dr. Ed-
ward “Ted” McMahon Jr.)
of Seattle WA, Nancy
Grueneich of Mesa and
Gloria Rogers (David) of
Fort Mills, SC; grandchil-
dren: Shane Grueneich
(Shari) and
great-grandson Jacob, and
James Rogers (Brie) and
nieces and nephews: Bon-
nie Weninger (Leo), Mar-
garet Ann Moore, Carol
(Don) Cook, Clark (Gaya-
tri) Moore, Craig (Kay)
Moore, Mary (Dave) Felt-
man.
Jim was preceded in
death by: his parents, his
sister and her husband:
Florence and Leonard
Thornby; his brother and
his wife: Richard C. “Bud”
Olson and Lorraine “Sis”
Olson and nephew: Roger
Thornby.
Celebration of the Life
of James D. Olson: Mon-
day, May 20, 2019 at
11:00 a.m. in First Luth-
eran Church, Minot.
Memorial
Book-Signing: Sunday
from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00
p.m. in the Thomas Fami-
ly Funeral Home, Minot.
Memorials: In lieu of
plants and flowers
memorials are preferred
to an organization of the
donor’s choice.
Those wishing to sign
the online memorial regis-
ter or share memories and
condolences are invited to
use the expressions of
sympathy section at
www.thomas
familyfuneralhome.com.