In Memory

Joseph M. Olsen

Joseph M. Olsen

Joseph Mitchell Olsen, PhD Mobile, Alabama Joseph Mitchell Olsen, PhD, 66, passed away on April 17, 2010 of pancreatic cancer. He was born November 22, 1943, in Salt Lake City, UT to Maxwell Bernard Olsen, Sr. and Sarah Henderson Mitchell Olsen. He grew up in Sugar House, UT and attended South High School where he ran track. During his schooling at M.I.T. he took 2 1/2 years off to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Spanish speaking Spanish-American Mission, head quartered in San Antonio, Texas. On returning from his mission he completed his undergraduate degree at M.I.T., after which he entered the army's Officer Candidate School where he earned his commission of second Lieutenant. While stationed in Boston with the Army Corps of Engineers he met the love of his life, O'Linn, at a church function. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 12, 1969. After completing his army commitment as a Captain, he returned to Boston and M.I.T. to continue his graduate studies. He completed both a Master's degree and a PhD in Civil Engineering. In 1976, he accepted a job as an assistant professor at the University of Utah where he enjoyed 11 years of professional growth. In 1987, he accepted a position as professor and chairman of the Civil Engineering department at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.  He is survived by his wife of 40 years, O'Linn Lohmoelder Olsen; four children: Karen Rasmussen (Kendall) of Doha, Qatar; Meredith Ohran (Michael) of Orem, UT; Matthew Olsen (Emily Fullmer) of Raleigh, NC; Melissa Resch (Ned) of Ann Arbor, MI; 14 grandchildren.







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