Russell E. “Russ” Olson, 82, died Monday, February 8, 2010 at First Health Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm Sunday, February 14, 2010 at Community Congregational Church in Southern Pines.

A native of Hyde Park, NY, Mr. Olson was a veteran of World War II, having served in the Pacific as a sergeant in the Army Air Corps. Following his military service he graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University and subsequently did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, the American University and at Columbia University where he held a post-doctoral Ottinger fellowship.

Mr. Olson taught and coached for a few years and then became a Foreign Service Officer with the US Department of State with which he had assignments on every continent in the world except Africa. He retired to the Sandhills in 1982.

His retirement was an active one. He wrote columns for the Charlotte Observer, (other writings have appeared in the National Municipal Review and, recently, in the journal of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations), taught at Sandhills Community College, did volunteer work for Hospice and as a guardian ad litem for the juvenile court. He also tutored Spanish at Sandhills. Mr. Olson was President of the Kiwanis Club of the Sandhills, a member of the Arts Council of Moore County, Secretary of the Democratic Party of Moore County and a member of the board of the Pauley lecture series.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; two daughters, Lynne Ann Guinn of Cape Coral, FL, and Diane Rolfs of Plattsburgh, NY; a son, Scott Olson of Marblehead, MA; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends from 3-6 pm Saturday, February 13, 2010 at their home.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Russ Olson Memorial Fund, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Rd., Pinehurst, NC 28374.