Proud WAC; former school district business manager
Ola Alberta Olsen lived in Barrington for all but two years, after arriving there with her family in 1926. Those two years, however, were spent far from the safe confines of rural Barrington, literally on the other side of the world.
Miss Olsen was the oldest of three children who had arrived with their Danish-born parents from their farm in Nebraska, seeking medical care in Chicago for their ill son, Neil.
Their father found work on nearby farms, before working as a laborer in town to support his family. Miss Olsen and her sister, Mary Bethel, both attended Barrington High School, graduating in 1932 and 1935, respectively.
Their brother passed away in 1936.
Family members now are reflecting on their long history in Barrington, including Miss Olsen's military service, of which she was quite proud. She passed away Friday at the age of 92.
Miss Olsen was in her mid-20s, having finished business school and working at an office in Chicago, when she acted on her principles and enlisted in the Army. It was in 1943 and World War II was raging.
"It was the first period for women to enlist," says her sister, Mary Bethel Olsen of Barrington. "She looked forward to being able to serve."
In fact, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps -- later shortened to Women's Army Corps, or WAC -- were the first women other than nurses to serve within the ranks of the U.S. Army, and of those, only the most highly qualified were given overseas assignments.
Miss Olsen was one of them. She was dispatched to New Guinea.
As her sister describes, her duties were difficult: She worked in Graves Registration, at one of the Army's temporary cemeteries, before families requested the remains of their loved ones to be returned home.
"It must have been difficult because of the work they did," her sister adds, "but she loved it because of the people she worked with."
When the war ended, Miss Olsen returned to Barrington, and in 1949, she accepted the job of business manager for the former Countryside School District 1, which administrated three elementary schools, including Countryside School in Barrington and two more in Carpentersville.
She held the position until 1974, when the three districts merged to form Barrington Area Unit District 220, and Miss Olsen retired.
She never forgot her military service, however. Miss Olsen was a founding member of the Women's Army Corps' Veterans' Association, which chartered in 1946 in Chicago.
The Chicago Chapter, was known as "Chicago Number 1," and now, her sister adds, every state in the nation has a chapter, with its membership numbering around 4,500, and representing every conflict through the Persian Gulf War.
Miss Olsen's active participation in veterans organizations extended to Barrington VFW Post 7706, where originally she was a member of the Women's Auxiliary, but in recent years, was one of two women to be accepted as a full member.
Visitation for Miss Olsen will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday at Davenport Family Funeral Home, 149 W. Main St. in Barrington.