Everett William Olson, 92, passed away peacefully at The Concord Regional Visiting Nurse Association Hospice House on January 18, 2009.

He was born in Duluth Minnesota on November 22, 1916 to Jens Harold Olson and Ellen Dahlin. His mother passed away when he was six. Later, his father married Elizabeth Katherine Anderson, who raised him.

He became an accomplished violinist at an early age. When he was twelve, he played for his grandmother in Sweden on the radio via the transatlantic cable. When he was sixteen, he and his friends formed a band and played on a cruise ship to Paris and back, twice, one summer.

He attended St. Edward’s College in Austin Texas for two years. He then transferred to Duquesne University in PA where he played in the first Tamburitzen Orchestra, which still exists today.

 Lawrence Welk heard him play there and asked him if he would join his band. Everett played with Welk’s Orchestra from 1939 to 1946, traveling all over the United States. He met and married Carlotta Lou Jacobson in 1939, and they had two children along the way. He played at the Trianon Ballroom and the Palmer House in Chicago and the Aragon Ballroom in Los Angeles. He also played with Wayne King. 

An avid golfer, he perhaps most enjoyed showing friends the letter from the PGA congratulating him on his "hole in one" at the 17th of the famed La Jolla, Calif. Torrey Pines golf course.

He and his wife lived in California and Brattleboro VT. He settled at Rush Square in Henniker, NH in 2007.

He was predeceased by son, Dennis in 2005 and his wife of 67 years, Carlotta in 2007.

He is survived by two sisters, Gertrude Schwerdt and Betty Lundquist, both of Duluth MN, his daughter, Sue and her husband, Doug Robbins of Henniker, five  grandchildren, Stephen Robbins and his wife, Pat of Henniker, NH, April Barker and her husband, Jim, of Darien CT, Jay Robbins and his wife, Lee of Cos Cob CT, Chris Robbins and his wife, Cindy of Cranberry Township, PA and Erik Olson of Big Bear, CA, seven great-grandchildren, James, Clay, Will, Hannah, Tom, Wyatt, and Wesley.

A Memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 24, at 2:00pm at the Congregational Church of Henniker, 33 Maple Street, Henniker, NH 03242.

The Holt-Woodbury Funeral Home & Cremation Service Henniker NH is in charge of arrangements. Log on to www.holtwoodburyfh.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made o the Concord Regional Visiting Nurses Association Hospice House, 250 Pleasant Street, P.O. Box 1797, Concord, NH 03302.

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