Obituary: Kathleen Maude (Schreiber) Olson, 80, The Dalles
Kathleen Maude (Schreiber) Olson, 80, passed away at her home on March 10, 2024. Katie was born on May 4, 1943, to Lawrence Joseph Schreiber and Waive Mildred (Martin) Schreiber in The Dalles, OR. She grew up on her family’s farm on Juniper Flat and attended school in Maupin. She was very active in 4H–raising steers, cooking, sewing, and entering her projects in the Wasco Co. and OR State Fairs.
In 1961 she graduated from Maupin High School, then attended Western Business University in Portland, moving on to various jobs in Portland and Salem. After a few years she moved back home, got a job as the Secretary at Dufur School, and married Ronald Ratcliff in 1964. They were married for ten years and lived in Friend, OR.
In 1975 Katie met Robert W. Olson while fishing in Blaine, WA, and they were married in Oak Harbor, WA soon after. They moved to Whidbey Island, WA where they fished, sold herring, milled logs, remodeled an old hotel, and started their family–Thomas L. Olson and twins Martin P. Olson and RoseAnna L. (Olson) Hertel. Katie would take her young children fishing in the Puget Sound nearly every morning, catching everything from salmon to bottom fish to red snapper and cod. She was a master fisherman and line detangler.
After five years Bob and Katie returned to Dufur, purchased a farm, and had their 4th child, Albert K. Olson. While raising their children and helping Bob farm, Katie loved growing a huge garden from which she harvested and canned all kinds of fruits and vegetables. They even kept a milk cow and she would make butter, yogurt, ice cream, and everything in between.
After her children were older, Katie worked as a bus driver for Dufur School for many years in the 1990s. When her husband Bob of 28 years died in 2003, Katie became active in a plethora of activities and clubs including quilting, and porcelain painting, the Butterfly Chairman and Treasurer of the OR State Garden Club, as well as President and member of the Dufur Valley Garden Club. She took classes to become an official flower and vegetable judge at the county fairs, was a lifelong member of the Ramsey Park Grange, and was Secretary and member of the White River Christian Fellowship Church in Tygh Valley.
Katie loved her flower and vegetable garden up until the day she died, and she became known to some as the ‘Tomato Lady’. She would involve herself in all the community fundraisers–selling pie and ice cream to benefit the Dufur Fire and Ambulance, making jam and cooking at the Ramsey Grange Hunter’s Breakfasts and Threshing Bee Breakfasts, setting up and organizing the Dufur Hometown Christmas Bazaars, and making countless amounts of pies for the Jam Sessions at the Ramsey Grange Hall. To many, she was known as the ‘Pie Lady’. True to her German origins, she was also very well known for her amazing homemade sauerkraut. Katie had so many talents and hobbies and was constantly researching ways to make what she did better–for herself, others, and all the living creatures that she loved–birds, bees, butterflies, bats, and flowers. In her later years, Katie slowed down a bit but continued to enjoy cooking, gardening, painting, quilting, and playing cards.
But most of all Katie loved and lived for her children and grandchildren, teaching them all she knew, to work hard, to love others, and to be patient and kind to all living things. She had a kind word and a loving heart for all and could find something special or some hidden talent in everyone. Preceding her in death were her husband Robert W. Olson and her brother David L. Schreiber.
She is survived by her sons Thomas L. Olson and wife Sydney, Martin P. Olson and wife Moryah, Albert K. Olson and wife Shilah, and daughter RoseAnna L. (Olson) Hertel and husband Travis, all of Dufur, and her five grandchildren: Caleb B. Olson, Morgan M. Olson, Nolan J. Olson, Lucinda R. Hertel, and Catherine (Kitti) W. Hertel, all of Dufur. Katie's Celebration of Life was held at the Dufur City Park on Sunday, August 25, 2024.
