Olaf Wayne HALLERUD

Memories from Olaf's mom, Monica Hallerud: "Olaf was a typical oldestchild. He was an achiever, a go-getter, and an organizer. When hewasin Cub Scouts, he would win prizes for selling the most tickets tospaghetti dinners, etc. When he was about nine or so, I remember himpaying Karen and Eric to pick up his blocks, Lincoln Logs, and toysoffthe floor of his room when I told them to pick up their rooms becauseI wanted to clean. He probably gave them each two cents from hispiggy bank!

He had a paper route in Jr. High and sometimes we had to help himgetthe papers delivered before school (if it was raining or snowing.)In high school he sold Amway products as there were no fast foodplaces nearby where he could work. He got into mischief too. Karensaid he was pretty mean to her when she was small! When he left hometo join the Air Force, Dave said, "How could my brother do this tome?"

When Olaf's daughter, Kirsten was born he was such an avid daddy.Hecouldn't do enough for that little girl. He loved to play with herand read to her. She was the light of his life and that light justwent out when she died. He was never the same after that.

Olaf was shy until you got to know him. He was always devout,sincere, conscientious and loving."

Memories from sister, Karen Hallerud Moore: "Olaf was a very smart,studious kid. He was an achiever and a doer. He accomplished a lotin his short lifetime of 35 + years.

As a kid, we had the usual sibling fights. It seemed as if he bulliedme around some, but I really didn't know any better. Olaf and I eachtried to get Eric on our side. We also spent quite a bit of time inour rooms getting punished!

Olaf had a lot of interests. He collected stamps and coins, he hadapaper route, and he was active in Boy Scouts. He was great atsavingthe money he made. I think he knew my parents couldn't sparemuch money for an allowance and such, so that motivated him to work.In seventh grade he got an electric guitar and took lessons. Hisfriends andhe started a rock band. When my family moved at the end ofthe next year to a very small town, he was angry for a long time. Hemissed his friends and opportunities that he'd had in a bigger town.He was also shy socially which kept him from making new friends veryfast. Ittook him several years during high school before he reallystarted joining things. Then, by his senior year he played footballand starredwith a lead role in the school musical. He had talents hehadn't even tapped!

Olaf studied hard in college. His Sophomore year I joined him and thesister/brother bond began to develop. We both attended St. OlafCollege and were far from home, so it helped to have someone to talkto. Near the end, he dropped out a semester to work and decide onfuture plans. That put us in the same graduating class. My favoritephoto of him is of the two of us in our caps and gown that prettyspring day in May of 1976.

In the fall of 1976 we drove him to the train depot in downtown KansasCity. He had enlisted in the Air Force and was heading for SanAntonio, Texas. I hated to see him go. To him it meant excitingopportunities ahead. Once again, he excelled at whatever he tried.He sailed through boot camp and said it was so strict that you'd getmarked down if your shoes weren't lined up exactly. He attended theUniversity of Texas at San Antonio earning a Master's Degree in mathand computer science. Then he attended an Airman Education andCommissioning Program where he graduated with flying colors inNovember 1980. Mom, Dave and I were proud to attend the graduation.At the end of the ceremory, the graduates all threw their hats in theair (just like in the movies!) He married Liza soon after and movedto Washington, D.C. to work at the Pentagon.

Kirsten was born on March 9, 1982 and she was a doll! She had blondhair and big blue eyes. I only saw her twice, once at Mon's and oncein Florida where Kirstne's other Grqandparents lived. She was ahappychild and loved to hug. Olaf was a devoted father and would senddetailed letters of Kirstn's activities and development not to mentionphotos. One of my favorite photos was Kirsten and Olaf together.They were sitting on the ground (she on his lap) by a pond in a parkwatching the ducks go by.

In November of 1984, First Lieutenant Olaf W. Hallerud wasofficiallypromoted to Captain at a ceremony on the payload bay of theShuttle Simulator in the Mission Control Room. The next day, Olafwrote me a letter (he was always good about writing.) In his letter,he told me every detail about the exciting ceremony. The following isa quote from that letter: "Last Friday morning I got up and walkedout on my front driveway at 05:44 A.M. and saw the Shuttle coming infor a landingto Cape Canaveral. It was like a spectacular orangecomet across thesky, with a white tail the whole length of the sky!"He was happy and had a promising career to look forward to.

Just about a week before a planned move to Houston, Texas and a jobwith NASA, Kirsten died in a tragic crib accident. This was less thantwo weeks after her second birthday. It was a terribly stressfultimefor Olaf and Liza. After the funeral, they made the move but itwasn't long before they divorced. Olaf went through treatment fordepression in 1985 and left the military sometime in 1986. In 1987,he requested an appointment as a Reserve in the Air Force and receivedapproval that November.

He tried hard to move on with his life. He did hospital volunteerwork and worked as a temp. in the computer field. Tragically, onMarch 30, 1989 he was unable to live any longer with the grief anddepression that tormented him, and he took his own life.

As I sat down to write these memoirs, I had in mind just to recall thehappy, positive thoughts about my brother. But the longer I thoughtit through, I realized it just wouldn't be accurate or fair to limitthe sharing. I was not able to speak about all these things athisfuneral, so now I want all my relatives to know what a wonderfulbrother, son, husband and father Olaf really was, and to never forgethim."

Brother, Eric Hallerud: "Olaf, my brother, was always older,biggerand stronger than me. Separated by 4 _ years and with a sisterin between I think I was for a long time more of an annoyance to himthan anything. We shared a room while growing up until we moved topearl City, Illinois when I was 10 and he was 14.

When Olaf came home from college (St. Olaf College - a long story I'llhave to share verbally) in the summer of 1973 he all of a sudden hadto look up to his now much taller "little" brother. This got hisattention and we became fast friends at that point and were close fromthen on.

We spent a memorable summer together in 1974 when he was 21 I was onthe verge of turning 17. We traveled across the country by thumb, bybox car and by the seat of our pants for several months. During ouradventure we were hotel clerks in Minnesota , door to door booksalesmen in Ohio, hitch hikers & hobos across the great plains, andmigrant workers picking fruit in Washington state. (It's another longstory - this one complete with thrills and chills - again one bettershared verbally over a beer).

Ole was smart (he worked at NASA helping them select which computersto purchase), and intense, and could also be great fun to be around.His downfall (from depression) was tragic in many ways and serves as astrong life lesson that we should all take great care of ourselves."

Memories from sister in law, Diana Renek Hallerud: " Olaf was averybright and caring man. He was shy, but could be very out-goingwhen he was in his "comic" mode. Olaf had a talent for doing cartooncharacter voices - Porky Pig, Donald duck, etc. He was incrediblyknowledgeable about computers. When Olaf wanted to know something hewould dohis own in-deptth research about the topic. He excelled inthe Air Force and could have been promoted beyond the rank of captainhad he chosen to remain in the military. Olaf was a wonderful fatherand lovedhis daughter with all his heart. He loved to read to her andplay with her. She loved his silly character voices. When Kirstendied at the age of two, a big piece of Olaf's heart went with her.

Kirsten had beautiful, bright eyes and was always eager to learn. Shehad a wonderful laugh. She loved reading and playing and all thetypical things two year olds like to do. Her death was a tragedy toall who knew her."

Memories from brother, David Hallerud: "Olaf was almost more likeanother parent to me since he was 14 years older than I. I don't havemany memories of "growing up" with Olaf, as he had gone away tocollegeand then to the Air Force before I was old enough to rememberanything. He would come home for Christmas break or summer vacationand timewould be spent with the family playing games, socializing, andcatching up. One of the earliest memories I have is that of Olaf andEric teaching me the words to the Rock-N-Roll song, "American Pie" (byDon McLean) at our house in Pearl City, Illinois in the early 1970's.

Olaf was a very smart and ambitious guy who accomplished a greatdealin his 36 years. He was a great role model to look up to as anolderbrother. Unfortunately, he was never the same after the tragicdeathof his two year old daughter, Kirsten in 1984. This led to hisown death in 1989. Olaf will always be an inspiration and continuesto bea role model for those of us who look up to him."