Barbara Ann Olson

Barbara Ann Olson, long time resident of New York City, died July 24, 2026, at the age of 91. Born on a farm in Iowa to Elmer and Genora (Twedt) Olson, Barbara was the fifth of six children. Upon graduating from the University of Iowa in 1958, she took a teaching job at the Excelsior School in Garden Grove, California for one year before moving on to the Isabelle P. Buckley School in Beverly Hills. In 1964 Barbara secured a position as a Kindergarten teacher at the Saddle Rock School in Great Neck, New York, and she remained there until her retirement in 1998.

Barbara loved teaching and remained close with many of her former students throughout her life. Her summer vacations were spent traveling the world, including two summers in Paris where she earned her master’s degree in French through New York University in 1972. Her adventures included a safari in East Africa, a hot air balloon trip through the south of France, hiking the Alps, retracing the route of Lewis and Clark through the northwestern states, touring the pyramids in Egypt, an Alaska cruise, an archaeological dig in France and Italy, reenactment of a wagon train through Kansas, scientific excursions as a volunteer to count spiders in Baja California, many summer cultural programs at Oxford University, and numerous trips to visit family, friends, and former students throughout the US, South America, Spain, Norway, Germany, England, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, Jamaica, Switzerland, and her favorite city (after New York) Paris.

Barbara will be remembered for her generosity, her quick wit and storytelling talent, her passion for learning, her volunteer work at the New York Public Library and on many political campaigns, her voracious love of reading, her daily commitment to reading the entire New York Times cover to cover (except the sports section) and solving the crossword puzzle, and her devotion to her students.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her older siblings Homer Olson (Millie), Alice Romsey (Ray), Colleen Romsey (Gus), and Robert Olson, and by her younger sister Mary Wilkerson (Raleigh). She is survived by her sister-in-law Pat Olson of Clear Lake, Iowa, and several nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation for classroom supplies at a local elementary school.

Cremation Society of NH, Boscawen office, is assisting the family with arrangements. To view an online memorial, leave a message of condolence, or for more information please visit www.csnh.com