Spencer E. Olson, formerly of Fairfield, Conn., died peacefully Feb. 6, 2011, in Scottsdale, Ariz.
He was born April 6, 1920, near Ontario to Edwin and Selma (Allison). On Oct. 2, 1943, he was married to Helen Virginia Dinan in Swampscott, Mass.; she preceded him in death Aug. 2, 1982. On Feb. 4, 1984, he was married to Patricia Burr in New Canaan, Conn.
Spencer graduated from the Sparta High School in June 1937 and received a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in February 1942. He then went to work at General Electric Company, serving short assignments in Schenectady, N.Y.; Pittsfield, Mass.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Lynn, Mass.; before entering the Navy as an ensign in August 1944. In his final Navy assignment, which ended with his discharge in June 1946, he was introduced to and chose a new profession — patent law.
He received a law degree from the Boston University School of Law in May 1950. During his law career, he worked as in-house counsel at Tracer Lab, Boston; Sylvania Electric Products Co., Waltham, Mass.; Automatic Electric Inc. (subsidiary of GTE), North Lake, Ill.; and CBS Inc., New York. For seven years following his retirement from CBS in December 1986, he served as special counsel at the New York City patent law firm of Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue and Raymond.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two children, Diane (Melvin Kestner) of Sarasota, Fla., and Donald (Janet) Olson of West Hartford, Conn.; one daughter-in-law, Judith Olson of Beacon Falls, Conn.; six grandchildren, Melanie (Samer Obeid) of Wakefield, Mass., Molly (Kristian Johnson) of Southington, Conn., Krista and Julia Olson of Brookline, Mass., and Rebecca and Jon-Eric Olson of West Hartford, Conn.; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son, David M. Olson; his brother, Norman Olson; and his sisters, Evelyn C. Williams and Irene Stoddard.
A memorial service will be in Fairfield, Conn., at a later date.
