June 20, 1953 – February 26, 2024
Andy was born in Orillia, Ontario on June 20, 1953, a very special Father’s Day present and first child to Kenneth Earnest Olsen and Phyllis Amy Olsen (nee Creasor). He passed away peacefully at South Muskoka Memorial Hospital, Bracebridge, on Monday, February 26, 2024, at the age of 70.
Family and community formed the foundation of his life. He was predeceased by his beloved parents and brother Olla. He is survived by his adored companion, Mickii Olsen, and sisters Wendy Kuijer (Jacob) and Katrina Olsen-Heise (Roy). Very involved uncle of Phillip (Sarah), Shane, Alicia (Michael), Gavin (Teresa), Megan and Amy. Proud grand uncle of Alexandra, Michael, David, Owen, Maxwell, Gwenyth, Tobias, Remington and Dawson. His chosen sister, and long-time close family friend Jane Ruttan and her sons Levi and Kurtis are also mourning his passing.
His roots were firmly planted in his home community. He completed grades 1 through 8 in the local one-room schools. Adjusting well to the “big high school” in grade 9 and later attending university, his friends remained ones from nearby with mutual activities like card games, hockey, fishing, hunting and swimming throughout his younger days, and visiting in his later years. Altering his career path during university to one that suited his love of Muskoka and science, he graduated from the University of Toronto with a B. Sc. in Survey Science. Through his decades of employment with the District of Muskoka as a surveyor, he came to know every road in Muskoka like the back of his hand. In his senior years, as Cemetery Manager, he assisted greatly in the upkeep and improvement of the cemeteries for the St. Thomas Anglican Ullswater Church where both sets of his ancestors, Olsens and Creasors, reside. He managed surveyed plots, updated maps and participated in administrative meetings.
From the time he was young, family was his focus. He was always protective and proud of his siblings, as well as his younger cousins and when older, his nieces and nephews and their children. With his high intellect and a keen mind for accuracy, he learned to tolerate and even be amused by the looser approach that the majority of us have, though as children his siblings sometimes enjoyed irritating him, especially his impish brother, Olla. He thoroughly enjoyed family gatherings: reunions, holiday dinners, music nights (of which there are lots on the Creasor side), birthdays, and anniversaries. Although he felt uncomfortable in a suit (unless it was a Muskoka dinner jacket), he always attended weddings as well as much more solemn occasions.
Andy was not just there for the family in good times. He was there to help with moving your furniture to a new house, entertaining your children, ferrying you to and from the airport, helping with yard work and renovations, and many other errands. He successfully tutored several younger family members in grade 13 math even though it had been years since he took it himself. He provided solid emotional support through the troubling events and always had your back. When his sibling Olla had a life-altering injury, he remained the steadfast brother and helped in any way he could then and for the remainder of his life. Choosing to live close to his ancestral home, he was instrumental in helping his parents remain living in their beloved, self-built lakeside house throughout their elder years. This was especially demanding in both time and emotions when his mother, Phyllis, developed Parkinson’s disease.
In later life, serious chronic health conditions emerged. He handled these in his usual practical steadfast way, fully participating in his family and community. In the last seven years, he developed cancer that was managed and contained by treatment successfully until two years ago when it metastasized. He bravely undertook the gamut of aggressive cancer therapies: chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation. It seemed that he had beaten the odds but fate deemed otherwise. In the new year, his health took a major downturn which he met with his typical pragmatic approach looking for any option that might improve the quality of his life and trying to protect others from the gravity of his situation.
The family wishes to thank the many family members and friends who supported Andy through his cancer journey. He always lit up when he received your texts, emails, calls, and visits. He loved to hear any and all details about you and your own family.
Special thank you to all the staff of South Muskoka Memorial Hospital, Doctor Lees, and Doctor Kappos for their compassionate care in Andy’s last months.
As requested by Andy, there will be no funeral, rather a celebration of life will be held in better weather. The details of this are yet to be decided. In lieu of flowers, the family requests you direct donations to Andy’s House, Muskoka Hospice.
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