Jacqueline Williams Olsen

10/16/26 - 1/9/17

Put me in your pocket, so I'll be close to you.

No more will I be lonesome, and no more will I be blue.

And when we have to part dear, there'll be no sad adieus.

For I'll be in your pocket, and I'll go along with you.

Jacqueline "Jackie" Olsen was a spirited and musical woman. She was born in Carroll County, Ark., on Oct. 16, 1926, the youngest daughter of Lona and Ormond Williams and the stepdaughter of Edwin Sandburg and Jessie Williams. Jackie was born to sing, and had a song for every situation. Her family jokes that her life was a musical production. From the age of 5, she was entertaining with her guitar and her sister's harmonies on stages, on the radio and at church. She had a true gift and love for music. Jackie passed away on Jan. 9, 2017, with family members by her side. She now is singing alto harmony in heaven's finest praise choir.

Early in her life (around 1930), Jackie moved with her family to Hinsdale, Mont. When her mother later married Edwin Sandburg, a railroad man, Jackie was able to spend summers with family in Arkansas, traveling on a railroad pass. She took great pride in her Ozark heritage. She never forgot her humble rural roots, and she taught her family to be proud. During high school at Hinsdale, she took the civil service exam, and the results showed that Jackie excelled at secretarial skills. She took classes in shorthand and typing prior to graduation in 1944, and then traveled with a friend to Hanford, Wash., where she became an executive secretary on a military base at the age of 17. The Hanford Project, home to the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world, was one of three manufacturing sites for atomic bomb material during the Manhattan Project. When Jackie's hair began to fall out, she and her friend asked for a transfer. She began secretarial work seven days a week in the Portland shipyards, saved her money, bought war bonds and was able to enroll in a two-year business course at The University of Montana in 1946.

She took great pride in her University of Montana Grizzlies and was a member of Alpha Chi Omega. As a sophomore in 1947, she attended a freshmen mixer dance where Paul Olsen, a tall freshman from Butte, asked her to dance. She finished her degree, and the two were married in Billings in 1948. She worked briefly in payroll for the U.S. Forest Service and in academic counseling at UM. The couple stayed in Missoula until 1951 while Paul attended law school, then lived briefly in Helena before moving to Billings in 1953. She mostly worked as a stay-at-home mom, but she took on secretary work as needed, including stints at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Billings and at Paul's law office. She was particularly proud of her four children: Lona (1950), Peter (1952), Rebekah (1957), and Polly (1959).

Jackie took great joy in communicating playfully on the CB radio in her kitchen with Paul using their "Bonnie" and "Clyde" CB handles as he worked in his shop. She was fiercely proud of her husband. She loved to share the story of a visit she made home to Arkansas for a relative's funeral, where she was confronted by her family members for "marrying a Yankee" up north. She'd smile when she reached the part in the story where she said, "The Civil War was settled a long time ago. And besides, he's not a Yankee. He's a Viking." And Paul Olsen was definitely her Viking. She took classes to learn Norwegian and read the books cover to cover. She spread labels of Norwegian names for everyday objects across her home and taught her grandchildren how to say those names. Sometimes she'd even answer the phone in Norwegian: " Hallo! Kan du snakke Norsk?" Eventually, Jackie traveled to Norway with Paul to meet his relatives, and she stayed in touch with the Norwegian relatives for years after, composing handwritten letters in Norwegian on yellow legal paper. Family was important.

As a grandmother, Jackie shined. She was known for her spaghetti, her chicken soup, and her Butte pasties. She kept a warm and loving kitchen, and she made homework much sweeter with Knox Blocks and cubed Snickers bars with toothpicks. She genuinely celebrated honors and accomplishments. She could leave her Christmas lists out in the open for all to see because her grandkids couldn't read shorthand. She'll be remembered for her piano and typing lessons. And she'll be remembered for her singing - while cooking, while driving and while fixing her granddaughters' hair. She'll be remembered for her unconditional love.

Jackie Olsen was a proud Democrat and served as a Yellowstone County election judge for many years. She enjoyed her Bible study group and loved to help the very needy. She told stories of her tough, hardscrabble years to remind her family of how fortunate they are and how it's possible to succeed while also helping those who are less fortunate. Jackie and her husband were lifetime members of the Billings Saddle Club and were founding members of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Billings.

She was preceded in death by her sister, Aimee. She is survived by her husband, Paul G. Olsen; daughters Lona (Wayne), Rebekah (Rod), and Polly (Troy), and son Peter (Linda); as well as 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Shriners Children's Hospital. A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 1108 N. 24th St. W.

Alpha Chi Omega Symphony:

"To see beauty even in the common things of life, to shed the light of love and friendship round me; to keep my life in tune with the world that I shall make no discords in the harmony of life; to strike on the lyre of the universe only the notes of happiness, of joy, of peace; to appreciate every little service rendered; to see and appreciate all that is noble in another, be her badge what it may; and to let my lyre send forth the chords of love, unselfishness, sincerity. This is to be my symphony."