Olga Parker

Olga Glassman Parker was born Nov. 13, 1929, to William and Hope Glassman, in Philadelphia, Pa.

Olga grew up in Warren, Pa., leaving that city at the age of 16 after only two years of high school  to attend the University of Chicago.  She graduated in 1949 with a BA in liberal studies and proceeded to Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pa., to earn a secretarial degree.

Olga met the love of her life, Watson Parker, at the University of Chicago.  They were married in 1950 and moved to Hill City, S.D., in 1951, where Watson managed his family’s business—Palmer Gulch Lodge. 

When Watson entered graduate school, they moved to Oklahoma and then to Oshkosh, Wis., where they resided for over 20 years before retiring to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Throughout their marriage, Olga used her secretarial skills to type many of Watson’s scholarly papers and books. They enjoyed 63 years of marriage before Watson passed away in 2013.

While Olga was primarily a stay at home mother, she also worked occasional part-time jobs, in secretarial and bookkeeping positions.  She was a Cub Scout Den Mother, a library volunteer, and a member of AAUW, the Embroidery Guild (Oshkosh), the Antiques Club (Oshkosh), Westerners Black Hills Corral #8 and Friends of Hill City Library.

Olga loved photography, traveling and making pictures of the people and places she visited. A historian in her own right, she documented her growing family, and her trips to China, Russia and historical monuments around the United States. Her photo albums are an amazing record of family life from the 1950s onward.

Olga died June 19, 2023 in Rapid City, S.D. She was 93. 

She was preceded in death by her sister, Nema Maynard; and her brother, David Glassman

Olga is survived by her three children, James (Karyn Kozo), David (Tiggie) and Becky (Larry) Jensen; six grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers (which she did not like) the family suggests memorials to the Hill City Library building fund (PO Box 88, Hill City, SD 57745) and Warren County Historical Society (210 Fourth Ave, Warren, PA 16365).