Durango entrepreneur Arthur “Art” Julius Olson died suddenly of cardiac arrest Thursday while hiking with his wife, Lucy, on Animas Mountain. He was 77.
Olson, who had owned Durango Transportation Inc. for more than 30 years, also started one of the first bicycle shops in town, founded the first in-town packing and shipping company and owned the Durango Hostel for many years. He even owned Hesperus Ski Area for about a year.
Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, Olson coached and taught young people numerous recreational activities.
“He loved to do anything to get kids going,” his daughter, Joan Rhoades, said. “He was a flight instructor and started a lot of people, especially kids, flying.”
Olson insisted that all three of his children get their pilots’ licenses even before he had his own, she said. Rhoades went on to fly for United Airlines.
“I gave him his commercial rating,” she said. “Oh, and he sold Varga airplanes for a while, too.”
The active Art Olson is the person Eric Baker, 51, the new baseball coach at Durango High School, remembers.
“There were so many really cool things I got to do that I wouldn’t have gotten to do if it hadn’t been for Art,” he said. “Skateboarding, rock climbing; I started bike racing with him in grade school and junior high.”
Olson took young people on trips for bike races and ski races across the country, and Baker particularly remembered a bike race in Milwaukee.
Another favorite activity was fencing. Olson founded fencing groups in both Durango and Silverton, where he worked in mining for a time.
“He noticed that a bar was the right length for a fencing strip,” Rhoades said. “The next thing they knew, they were holding fencing tournaments.”
Active in the Civil Air Patrol, Olson was also an early founder of La Plata County Search & Rescue and a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for about 23 years. He was also a member of the Quiet Birdmen, a club for male aviators.
abutler@durangoherald.com
Memorial service
A memorial service for Arthur Julius Olson will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015, at the Faith Community Church of the Nazarene, 1400 Colorado Highway 172. A celebration of life will be held at 5 p.m. that day at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 4031, 1550 Main Ave.
Olson was born to Paul Julius and Waunita Jimmie Olson on Dec. 1, 1937, in Denver. He grew up in Durango and Cortez, graduating from the Marion Military Institute in Alabama in 1955. While working and raising a family, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Fort Lewis College in 1973.
He married Lucy Claire Elliott in 1957 in Durango.
Olson is survived by his wife of 57 years, Lucy Olson, of Durango; children Mike Olson and Joan Olson Rhoades, both of Durango, and Tad Olson, of Littleton; and six grandchildren.
The Olson family would appreciate notes and stories mailed to P.O. Box 1445, Durango, CO 81302.
