Ronnie (Ron) E. Olsen

Ronnie (Ron) E. Olsen, 65, of Appleton, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, August 10th, 2024. He was born on December 6th 1958, in Gillett WI, the son of Eugene (Ole) Olsen and Jean (Freitag) Olsen. In 1961 the Olsen family moved to Appleton, were Ron resided in the Fox Valley all of his life.

Ron was a student of Appleton East High School and at the age of 17 joined the US Navy where he received his high school diploma. He always stated that when his fellow classmates graduated he was sitting in a bar in Naples Italy. Ron served on the USS Independence for a majority of 4 years where he had the opportunity to visit many European countries.

After the Navy Ron came back to Appleton and worked for 26 years at Kimberly-Clark. When the plant closed, he went Curwood- Bemis/ Amcor for 17 years and retired in June of this year.

Ron met Michelle in 1996 and they were together for 27 years and married on October 2, 1999. They lived in the Fox Valley area where they raised Ariell (Chicklet) and Jacob (Buddy). Ron loved his family, enjoyed watching his kids grow, and was so proud of the wonderful people they have become.

Ron was an avid golfer and enjoyed golfing with his brother Steve and brother in-law Dave. He also was competitive Cribbage player mostly when playing against his wife and just detested it when she threw 5’s in her own crib and in a very jokingly manner call her “ Nickel Pitching Witch”. But most of all Ron was a Wisconsin sports fan and a major Green Bay Packer fan. He enjoyed watching the games especially with all his friends at Emmett’s bar. If he couldn’t watch he would listen any way he could. Ron was such a huge fan his favorite DVD set to watch was the 2010-2011 “Packer Road To XLV” even though he knew the ending. Ron’s kids would tease him about never seeing him wear any thing but Packer shirts and he would say that’s Okay, I’m a Green Bay Packer fan & a shareholder.

Ron is survived by his wife, Michelle, his children: Heather Olsen (fiancé Adam Schumacker) of Shawano, Ariell (David) Peel of Lakeland FL, Stg. Jacob Olsen (fiancé Melissa Metschan) of Joint Base Lewis-McChord WA. Siblings: Terry (Dave) Kuse and Steve Olsen, both of Appleton. Grandchildren: Austin, Kyana, Serenity, and Kenna. Grand pups: Axel and Tank. And many nephews, nieces, great nephews, and great nieces.

Ron is preceded in death by his parents Eugene (Ole) and Jean Olsen and sister Laurie Birkholz.

A memorial service for Ron will be held on Saturday, August 24, at 11:00 AM at Wichmann Funeral Home, 537 N. Superior St, Appleton. A visitation will be held prior from 9:00 AM to the time of the service. Military honors will follow.

In honor of the memory of Ron, the family is requesting attendees to his celebration of life wear their favorite packer attire or green & gold.