Kenneth Dell Olson was born August 18, 1919, in Frankfort, Kansas, the son of Dell and Gunhild Olson. He graduated from Frankfort High School and attended Kansas State University in Manhattan and Brown Mackie Business College in Salina. He married Marjorie Spiller in 1941 and they lived in Abilene both before and after his service in the military during World War II. He entered the service in 1942 and was assigned to the Finance section of the base unit at Shepherd Field, Texas. After being transferred to Amarillo, Texas, he was then sent to Tinker Field Air Force Base where he was Chief Finance Officer. In 1945, he was sent to Okinawa and served as Chief Finance Officer for the 8th Army Air Force until his discharge in 1946. Mr. Olson returned to his previous position with the United Trust Company in Abilene where he spent more than forty years in banking and trust. He retired in 1978 as president and trust officer of the company. He was very active in state and civic affairs serving a term as president of the Kansas Trust Officers Association. Other activities included the Industrial committee of the State Chamber of Commerce and Kansas State University Endowment Association. In 1949, he was campaign chairman of Abilene's drive to raise $50,000 to help promote a 'living memorial' to President Eisenhower. He later served as a trustee of the Eisenhower Foundation for many years, and was chairman of the arrangement committee for the Eisenhower Library's ground breaking ceremony in 1959 and the dedication in 1962. Mr. Olson died in 1989, at the age of 70, leaving his wife, Marjorie, daughter, Carol Hires and family, and son, Gary and family.