Steven Olson, 38, FDNY, lovingly balanced job, family

A sports fan and music lover who had 'such a presence,' he was content spending time with his two daughters Date of Death 9/11/2001 By Kathryn Carse Advance staff writer Saturday, 10/13/2001 At work, Steven J. Olson's locker was covered with pictures of his daughters. At home, the names of the guys in his firehouse were like familiar family names. Just back from vacation, the Great Kills resident was starting his tour at Manhattan's Ladder Co. 3 on Sept. 11 when the call came in for the World Trade Center. "I gotta run," he told his wife on the phone. She told him she loved him and to be careful; he said he loved her. Now, he is among the thousands missing. Joining the Fire Department was always Mr. Olson's goal. He was called up on his birthday in 1990. He and his wife, the former Patricia (Patty) Larson, were engaged two months later and their lives and that of the Fire Department were forever linked. Ladder Co. 3 was the only firehouse he ever knew. "My only consolation," said his wife, "was that he was with his friends who we would all talk about at the dinner table." Mr. Olson's "other" friends were his daughters. The 38-year-old father was calm and patient, and he was content spending time with the girls, teaching them things that gave him pleasure in life. "He taught his daughter, Jaclyn, at the age of 4, how to play Monopoly the real way," said Mrs. Olson, referring to the patience needed to teach the intricacies of the rules, the money and the hotels and houses. And he taught her good sportsmanship -- after every game, they would shake hands. A crossword puzzle buff and avid newspaper reader, Mr. Olson would relax after a 24-hour tour by playing a board game, solving a word puzzle or reading. He took an interest in everything, and long walks to nowhere with his daughters were full of interesting stops, including the local firehouse. Mr. Olson's 2-year-old daughter Jessica enjoyed watching "Daddy's cucumbers" grow in his garden. "There was no one like him," said his wife. "He was my best friend." The couple met at her sister's wedding in 1988, when both were in the wedding party. "When I first met him I knew he was the one," said Mrs. Olson. A sports fan and music lover, Mr. Olson always had his radio or Walkman on, tuned to the sounds of the Rolling Stones or jazz music, or the games of his favorite teams -- the Mets, Jets and Rangers. "He always fell asleep with it on," his wife said. "Now I can't fall asleep with it off." Before their second child was born, Mrs. Olson returned to school to get a master's degree in education. Mr. Olson would act as her proofreader, checking her papers before she turned them in. Whenever she needed time to concentrate on her studies, Mr. Olson would take their daughter out. He cooked every night that he was home and, almost more admirably, kept the kitchen clean while he was doing it. "We were just happy to be on the couch together," Mrs. Olson said of their family life. They made sure they never let a day go by without a hug. The Eltingville native lived in Huguenot for four years before his marriage in 1991, when the couple moved to New Dorp. They moved to Great Kills in 1994, where they became parishioners of St. Clare's R.C. Church. Mr. Olson graduated from Tottenville High School and earned his bachelor of science degree in communications from St. John's University, Grymes Hill, in 1986. He began a career as an apprentice in the film industry with MTI, a communications company in Manhattan, but quickly abandoned that job when the opportunity to join the Fire Department appeared. Worried about how her daughters will "ever know the truth of this man's love for them," Mrs. Olson wonders how her young children will remember their father. A small glimpse of hope presented itself when 6-year-old Jaclyn won a word puzzle contest at school. Mrs. Olson asked her where she learned that skill, and the little girl responded, "From Daddy." "It's hard to absorb how a man with such a presence could be gone," Mrs. Olson said. In addition to his wife, Patty, and his two daughters, Jaclyn, and Jessica, surviving are his brother, Kenneth, and his sister, Donna Olson-Sol. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ruth and Donald Olson. There will be a memorial mass Tuesday at 11 a.m. in St. Clare's Church.

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