Robert Olsen

Wyoming bridge builder Robert N. "Bob" Olsen, known for legendary chocolate milk shakes, dies at 92. Funeral services set for Monday in Casper. Long-time Wyoming contractor Robert N. "Bob" Olsen, known for his love of airplanes, construction cranes and hand-crafted milk shakes, died Feb. 22 in Casper. He was 92. Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. Monday at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church with a reception to follow. The son of Norwegian immigrants, Olsen's career spanned six decades. His company built the Buffalo Tri-Level and dozens of other highway bridges. An avid pilot, he flew single-engine Cessnas well into his 80s. Olsen was born in Mount Vernon, Washington on Sept. 16, 1924, to Jens and Anna H. Olsen. He moved to the family home in Casper when he was 6 weeks old and graduated from Natrona County High School in 1941. Olsen attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Idaho in 1947. He taught engineering at Michigan State University from 1947 through 1949, then returned to Casper to work for the company his father co-founded - Rognstad-Olsen Construction Co., for the next 20 years except for a stint on the Alcova Power Plant with A.S. Horner Construction in the early 1950s. Olsen went out on his own with Lobo, Inc., in 1968 and continued building bridges, driving piling, erecting steel and other heavy construction work. Olsen met Katherine Louise Keisling during a spring blizzard in Highland, Wyoming in May 1950. They were married July 30, 1950 and were active in Our Saviour's Lutheran Church and civic affairs, all while raising three daughters and a son. He purchased a Hamilton-Beach milk-shake maker from a Glenrock, Wyoming, drug-store soda fountain in the 1950s and initiated a family tradition of hamburgers and chocolate milk shakes on Saturday nights. Olsen served on the Wyoming Air Resources Council and the Casper Planning Commission, was a fellow with the American Society of Civil Engineers and served as president of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Wyoming in 1971. Honors include the 1974 Tau Beta Pi Prominent Engineer Award from the University of Wyoming, AGC's Charles M. Smith Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service in 1974, and the Wyoming Contractor's Association 2003 Contractor of the Year Award. Olsen was preceded in death by his wife of 49 years, Katherine, in 1999; his brother, Art, in 2014; and his brother, Hal, in 2016. His second wife, Fern, died in September 2016. Survivors include his children with Katherine: three daughters, Carol Moler of Cheyenne, Judy Ellis of Casper, and Astri Olsen of Oslo, Norway, and son, Ken Olsen of Portland, Ore.; sister, Evelyn Williams of Minneapolis; four grandchildren, numerous great grandchildren and a great-great grandchild. Memorial contributions may be made to the Robert N. Olsen Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund at the University of Idaho or Central Wyoming Hospice in Casper. For the scholarship, please mail donations to: Robert N. Olsen Civil Engineering Scholarship: University of Idaho Foundation 875 Perimeter Drive MS 3143 Moscow, ID 83844-3143 For Central Wyoming Hospice, please mail donations to: Central Wyoming Hospice 319 S. Wilson St. Casper, Wyoming 82601

Service

Monday, February 27, 2017 3:00pm

Our Saviours Lutheran Church

318 East 6th Street

Casper, Wyoming 82601