Obituary of Phllip Olsen

Philip E. Olsen (Gene) 79 of Goleta passed away after a long battle with congestive heart failure on January 27, 2015 at Serenity House in Santa Barbara, CA. Phil was born in Mt. Vernon, WA on October 10, 1935 to Philip & Louise Olsen. He graduated from Twin City High School in Stanwood, WA in 1954 with the accomplishment of lettering in 4 sports at the same time. (Track & field, baseball, basketball, and football.) He married Phyllis J. Ham in 1955 (divorced in 1982); together they had 3 children - Pamela Renée, Kari Elizabeth & Todd Christopher. Phil's career in the "pioneering days" of the aerospace industry moved their family across the country and back doing contract work. Beginning in 1963, they moved from Seattle, WA (Boeing Aircraft) to Rochester, NY to work for Eastman Kodak. In 1964, they headed to "Rocket City" in Huntsville, AL (Lockheed Martin) where Phil worked on blueprints for NASA rocket parts. Next, in 1967, it was Arlington, TX to work on fighter jet designs (sensors, ignite/fire jet rockets). Back to Seattle, WA (Boeing) to work on the first 747 jumbo jet and was named an honored guest at its maiden voyage. Soon after, it was off to Burbank, CA (Lockheed Martin) and finally to Goleta, CA to work for Santa Barbara Research Center (Hughes Aircraft.) In 1971, Phil was offered a permanent position at SBRC - much to the relief of his family, who'd come to love the Santa Barbara area and had had enough of moving around the country! Phil continued as an engineer at SBRC - now called Raytheon. Some of the notable projects that he worked on were the Viking Spacecraft (camera system design), Voyager, Hubble telescope and many more. Upon his retirement in 2002, Phil had achieved a 30-year work record at SBRC/Raytheon and had accumulated over 45 years of experience in the industry. Phil enjoyed gardening, bowling, softball, working on his car & traveling. His travels took him to Europe, Turkey, Greece, Russia, and New Zealand - where he met Nancy Scholz on a group tour and fell head over heels in love with her. They married in 1991 and have had many travels and adventures together. In his final years, Nancy was there by his side, bravely facing all of Phil's health challenges and ensuring his health care was always the best available. She was his advocate and rock. Phil is survived by his wife of 23 years Nancy (Scholz) Olsen; his children Pamela (Bill) Holt of Buellton, CA, Kari (Harold) Adams of Lompoc, CA, Todd Olsen of Costa Mesa, CA; his grandsons, Robert (Sonia) Adams and Benjamin (Anna) Adams; his sister Anita Carlson, many nieces, nephews and extended family; and his two beloved kitties Samantha & Tabitha. A private memorial at sea will be held on February 15, 2015 with a reception following at the Beachside Restaurant in Goleta for friends & family to celebrate his life. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Catalyst for Cats (catalystforcats.org) or your local Animal Shelter. Arrangements entrusted to McDermott-Crockett Mortuary.