Delores Ilene (Olhausen) Peterson

Born May 10, 1934. Died January 7, 2021 in Portland, Oregon, of COVID complications.

Delores was born and grew up in rural Western Iowa. Her family moved to California when she was 8 after her father was drafted during WWII. She lived most of her life in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Delores loved music and singing and learned to harmonize while riding on the tractor with her grandfather in Iowa. She attended San Leandro High. Delores sang in church choirs throughout her life, often as a soloist.

Delores attended modeling school and was very proud of her work as a walking floor model for Coronet of California in San Francisco, which required great poise and proper presentation.

She covered the East and South SF Bay Area as a PBX supervisor at Pacific Bell after divorcing her first husband. Later, she worked at Coldwell Banker and Goldman and Co. in San Francisco and retired from there in 1994.

Delores enjoyed collecting antiques and met her second husband, Walt Peterson, while taking a class on Victorian architecture. They were married January 1,1982. They purchased an old Victorian home in Alameda, then a rundown rental, and returned it to its former glory. They were active in the Alameda Historical Society and later, the Tualatin Historical Society after they moved to the Portland area in 1996.

Delores was predeceased by Walt in 2006. She is survived by her brother, Nolan Olhausen, daughters, Michelle Kelley-Park, and McKevin Kelley, step-daughter, Linda Peterson Saxton and six grandchildren.

For information on a virtual memorial service, please contact Young’s Funeral Home, Tigard, Oregon.