Tim W. Olson

On Friday, January 31st, 2020, Tim Olson, loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend, unexpectedly passed away at the age of 65.

Tim was born on October 15, 1954, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Boyd and Renee Olson.  He was the second of six children: Ron, Tim, Scot, Susan, Heidi, and James.  By all accounts, he was the peacemaker of the family.  He was caring and protective, playful and adventurous, and above all, a great listener.

He primarily grew up in Holladay, Utah, where he attended Evergreen Jr. High School (1970) and Olympus High School (1973).  In high school, Tim was voted by his peers to be the President of the Mens' Association.  He was well liked, social, and a good scholar.  Tim was selected to represent Olympus High at Boys' State - a model government association for outstanding high school students.

Tim was a man of faith, with life-long membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served an LDS mission from 1974 - 1976 in Brisbane, Australia.  He held several leadership positions and was hand-picked to be the Public Relations specialist.

Noted for his easy-natured demeanor, and ability to get along with anyone, at one point the mission president asked him to serve with a notoriously hard-to-get-along-with missionary.  This elder would quickly find a list of faults and flaws in his companions, yet after six weeks he could find only one problem with Tim: he didn't like the way Tim breathed!

As an adult he held numerous church callings.  Among others: serving in the Bishopric, Gospel Doctrine Teacher, Sunday School President, and his favorite calling, Seminary Teacher.

He was an avid history buff, genealogist, and family history enthusiast. Tim discovered several interesting connections to his family's forefathers.  For example, he learned that his family was a descendant of Harmon Cutler, who founded Midvale, Utah, and was the town's mayor.

He felt that genealogy was a grand adventure, and he urged others to join in the journey.  He recently rallied his siblings and family members together to do temple work for their ancestors.

On August 10th, 1982, Tim became a father to his newborn son, David.  That evening, reflecting on the experience with his first wife, Linda, he wrote in his journal: "How foolish it is to spend your life seeking and working for material things, when you are blessed with this new being to educate and teach."  He held true to the philosophy for the rest of his life.

He added another son, Taylor, and daughter, Nicole, in the following years. Always the present father, he coached his sons' baseball teams, skied with Nicole, and loved to camp with the entire family.

Tim married his eternal companion, Wendy Olson, on January 4th, 2003, in the Timpanogos Temple. On that day, he added four stepchildren to an existing family of three children, for a total of seven.  Remarkably, he found time for everyone, even his grandchildren.  He was known to spend hours, at his granddaughter Sage's pleading, playing "James & the Ferries" in the living room.

As Tim charted his life, he chose to go deep - rather than broad - with relationships.  He kept a close group of family and friends, and always put his wife, children and siblings first. When a family member was sick, he was the first to visit.  When family and friends rang, Tim always picked up. He was an advisor, counselor, and caretaker.  Everyone leaned on him during a time of need.  His close friends wrote that Tim "was the best example of friendship and loyalty."

As a professional, Tim worked in real estate for over a decade in Houston, Texas. As the local economy turned south, and unemployment rose, Tim spent countless hours helping members of his church congregation find jobs.  He called, networked, and lobbied on their behalf.

He moved his family of five back to Utah in 1991 to live closer to relatives and friends. Most recently, he was an estimator at Alta Air, estimating and contracting HVAC / mechanical for residential, multifamily, commercial, industrial, governmental, and retail projects.

Tim volunteered in the community throughout his life. Notably, in 2002, he contributed to the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics by preparing and maintaining courses for both mogul and ariel skiing events. He served as a State Delegate (2011) and County Delegate (2017) for the Republican Party and volunteered for congressional campaigns.

Tim was an avid reader.  He seemed to know something material about every topic.  You could easily spend hours listening to him talk about history, politics, science, religion and meditation. He enjoyed informative podcasts, documentaries, and anything else that could satisfy his endless curiosity.  His ability to recall facts, details, and information from his studies was truly a gift.

He had an infectious laugh and made lifelong friends at an early age. In his youth, he spent countless hours at the Holladay Gun Club, hunting, riding dirt bikes, and exploring the outdoors with friends. In his college years at BYU, he would frequently go boating and waterskiing.  As an adult, he took up cross country skiing, hiked often, and loved fishing with his brothers.

As we mourn the passing of our husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend, we take solace in knowing that he was in particularly good spirits during the weeks preceding his passing.  He made several comments to his wife, Wendy, that he felt an increased closeness to his children and immediate family.

Tim passed unexpectedly in his sleep due to natural causes and showed no signs of pain or struggle. He is survived by his wife Wendy Olson, children David Olson, Taylor Olson and Nicole Olson, his four stepchildren Nacho Andrade, Michael Andrade, Angie Andrade and Kristina Andriese, and his grandchildren Sage and Avery Luke.

The Viewing and Family Prayer will be held from 10:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m., followed by a Funeral Service from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m., at the Crescent South 23rd Ward, 10376 Leilani Dr, Sandy Utah 84070.  All family, friends, ward members, neighbors, co-workers, and associates are welcome.

Interment will ensue at the Memorial Holladay Cemetery, within the family plot, from 1:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m., followed by a Family Lunch and Celebration of Tim's Life at 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., at the Crescent South 23rd Ward.