Barbara Whalin Olsen

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Barbara Louise Whalin 

Barbara Louise Whalin was born on October 10, 1944, in Medford, Oregon. Her mother was Lois Herman Whalin. Her father, Donald Bennett Whalin, was in Europe serving in the war and wasn’t able to meet her until she was one. When Barb was six, her sister Charlotte was born, whom she adored. Barb and Char often visited her grandmother, Ella Herman, in Medford. 

Barb attended Roosevelt School, Hedrick Junior High, and Medford High, where, as a member of the pep club, she cheered for the sports teams.

Willamette University in Salem was Barb's choice of college, where she majored in Sociology. Then, with an interest in teaching deaf children, she was off to St. Louis to study, live, and work as she earned her master’s degree at the Central Institute for the Deaf.

Following her graduation and a summer trip to Europe, Barb drove back to her home state and her first job, teaching language and speech to 4th and 5th graders at the Oregon School for the Deaf in Salem. Her classroom was on the third floor next to Jim Olsen’s. The two worked together on school field trips and programs. They became close friends and then fell in love.

After two years at the school, Barb took a job at Tucker-Maxon Oral School in Portland. That was only for a year, because Jim, who had taken a teaching job in North Dakota, asked her to marry him and move there. After their wedding in 1972, it was off to North Dakota, and the next year they relocated to Florida for job opportunities.

The Olsen’s were excited when jobs were offered to them in Portland, Oregon, in the Portland Public Schools. A few years later, they bought their home in the Laurelhurst neighborhood where they nurtured many close relationships and made wonderful memories. In Portland, they welcomed two sons - Donald Robert Olsen, born in 1975, and Michael James Olsen, born in 1979. 

After Barb’s mother passed away in 1980, her father married Bobbie Whalin (née Hollingworth). Bobbie was a wonderful stepmother and brought her two daughters, Judy and Marlee and their families together with the Olsen’s. Barb and Jim enjoyed summers off with their boys, and many family trips and gatherings with Barb’s sister Char, brother-in-law Mike, and nieces Sarah and Elizabeth. 

Barb balanced her busy family life of raising her active sons, assisting the church with youth group activities and mission trips, advocating for students with special needs, and devoting time to her friends, neighbors, and extended family. Barb continued her education and earned an additional endorsement in Special Education from Portland State University while her boys were still young. From the year of their marriage, until 2018, Barb told, in rhyme, of their year’s activities in their annual Christmas greeting. 

Barb and Jim took full advantage of their retirement and their love of travel. They went to Europe three times, including Scandinavia to visit dear friends, Canada, Japan, and all around the United States including three trips to Alaska. Seeing big city Tokyo and village life in Hokkaido, where Michael was working at the time, was a highlight for them. Barb’s favorite place to visit and relax was on the Oregon coast in Lincoln City, where her father had bought a condo for the family. Barb’s family spent many holidays and special days at the beach. In 2009, Barb started another, and perhaps her favorite job: being a grandma. As a grandma, she enjoyed an active decade of good health, travel and lots of quality time with loved ones.

In 2020, Barb and Jim moved to an assisted living facility in Milwaukie, Oregon, where Barb received care for her progressing Lewy Body Dementia. Barb passed away peacefully on August 31, 2024, with her family by her side. 

Barb will be remembered for her warmth, her smile, generosity, open-mindedness, how deeply she cared for and thought of others, loyalty and devotion to Jim, interest in her children’s and grandchildren’s lives, her faith, wisdom, humor, and her love of holidays and special events where she could celebrate with those she cherished.

Barb is preceded in death by her mother (Lois), father (Don), and stepmother (Bobbie). Barb is survived and missed by her devoted husband of 52 years, Jim, her two sons Don (Denise), Michael (Kelda), her four grandchildren (Otis, Elliot, Inez, Sonia), her sister Char (Mike), stepsisters Judy (Ron), Marlee (Carl), Jim’s large and welcoming family, over twenty nieces and nephews, and their children. She was dearly loved and is missed.