AMES, Iowa –– Thomas R. “Tom” Olsen of Ames, Iowa, and formerly of Wessington Springs and Sioux Falls died March 5, 2025, at the age of 77.
Memorial Services for Tom will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 8, at Collegiate United Methodist Church, 2622 Lincoln Way, in Ames with visitation beginning at 9 a.m.
There will also be a memorial service at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 15, at Asbury United Methodist Church, 2425 South Western Ave., Sioux Falls, with visitation beginning at 9:30 a.m. Tom’s ashes will be interred at Hills of Rest Memorial Park in Sioux Falls.
Tom was born June 10, 1947, in Sioux Falls to Melvin and Thelma (Sorensen) Olsen of Alcester. The family moved to a ranch east of Gann Valley in 1949 where he completed grade school. He lived with his grandma, Mollie Sorensen, in Wessington Springs, where he graduated high school in 1964.
After receiving a degree in mathematics from South Dakota State University in Brookings,where he completed Air Force ROTC, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the USAF. Upon completion of pilot training at Reese AF Base in Lubbock, Texas, he received further training in the HC-130 and was stationed at Clark AFB in the Philippines and Hamilton AFB in California in rescue squadrons. He served until 1973, having obtained the rank of Captain, and joined his dad’s farming operation in the Wessington Springs/Lane area.
Tom was united in marriage to Michele Stearns June 19, 1977, in Canton. After living in Lane for two years, they moved to the farm in 1979 where they raised two children. He raised cattle until 1988, moved into Wessington Springs in 1998, and continued crop farming until 2006. He served Farm Bureau at the county level, as state vice president and a charter member of Farm Bureau Bank Board of Directors. He also held positions with Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, SD Crop Improvement Association, South Dakota Board of Regents, SD Corn Growers Association, South Dakota Community Foundation, Farm Service Agency State Committee, and South Dakota State University Foundation.
Tom was elected to the Wessington Springs Board of Education, Area Community Foundation and Development Corporation Boards and City Council and served as Township Clerk. He was a member of the United Methodist Church, American Legion, VFW, and Community Club. In 1992 he was recognized as Wessington Springs Area Business Person of the Year and received the Lusk Award for Volunteer in Agriculture from the Huron Plainsman in 1999. Tom enjoyed traveling, reading and playing golf, bridge, tennis and pickleball.
Tom and Michele spent winters in Sun City Grand, Surprise, Ariz., from 2004 to 2022. They moved to Sioux Falls in 2011 and Ames, Iowa, in 2023.
Survivors include his wife, Michele; son Grant and his wife Amanda of Ames, Iowa; daughter Maren Cushman and her husband Matthew of Cottonwood, Ariz.; grandsons Caden and Alex Olsen; granddaughter Emma Cushman; step-grandsons Damian and Riley Cushman; and his brother Roger of Sequim, Wash. Tom was preceded in death by an infant sister, his parents, and sister Mary Ann Kidman.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Wessington Springs Area Community Foundation, PO Box 157, Wessington Springs; Children’s Home Society, 801 N Sycamore Ave, Sioux Falls; the Alzheimer’s Association or the American Parkinson Disease Association.
Online condolences may be directed to www.grandonfuneralandcremationcare,com
