My mom met with Olga when she was living in San Francisco in the late 1960's. Olga and her husband Fred Smith had left their Mid-Western roots and moved west to San Francisco on account of their other son (they only had 2 sons - one being my grandpa, William Smith) Fred Smith Jr., who was living in San Francisco.
While my mom met with Olga, she took the opportunity and quizzed Olga on her family history. Who her father and mother were, children, names, dates, etc. Olga came through for my mom. She remembered many things. She also remembered the exact place her father was born in Germany. This might not seem amazing but trust me - I am a genealogist and many children don't know as much about their parents as they think they do. Many children have given misinformation or missing information on a death record.
I have only one picture of Olga. I will have to add it to another post because I don't have it scanned into this computer. My mom describes Olga as a small woman with a strong personality. She sounds like my kind of woman. I think I can relate!?
Olga helped give me my start in genealogy. She remembered her family, so I have, in turn, been able to find and remember my family as well. Thanks Olga.
Olga came from a time period where you had a closet full of clothing for the 4 seasons. The handbag, shoes, gloves all matched and of course you always carried a beautiful ironed handkerchief in your purse. When I met Olga she lived on Eleven Street across the street from Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. She lived in an apartment on the 5th floor with no elevator. She had the best looking legs any older lady could ever want or young for that matter. She was about 80 at the time and had a tremendous amount of energy.
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