Only child of his parents. Named after his mother's Uncle Ollie Wriggins, sheriff of Salem County. Grew up in southern NJ and Philadelphia area, except for several years in the 1920s when the family lived in Harbin, China. He learned to speak some Chinese while there. Graduated from Woodbury High School in 1934. Attended Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, but left without graduating due to running out of money. He worked at the Evening Bulletin and the Philadelphia Inquirer as a general and later a financial news reporter. Served in the US Army Air Corps in WW II as a weather observer, stationed in Texas (Kelly Field) and Egypt. As a Staff Sergeant he was responsible for a variety of duties as the war wound down, including running the base Officers' Club outside Cairo. While in Egypt he climbed the Great Pyramid with several of his buddies. He returned to working as a journalist after the war. Married Florence Hipple January 14, 1950. Father of three. In the early 1950s they moved to the Philadelphia suburbs in Delaware County (Penn Pines, later Aldan). From then on Oliver's mother Alice lived with them. Became Managing Editor and later Editor and Publisher of The Eastern Banker, a weekly financial newspaper with circulation throughout the Northeast. In the early 1970s he took a job as a Public Affairs officer with the PA Dept. of Banking under state Banking Secretary Carl Dellmuth. He worked there until his retirement, serving under several governors and several state Banking Secretaries. He wrote the first consumer education pamphlets distributed by the state Banking Dept. He was active in the Boy Scouts and in the Pennsylvania Public Relations Society. Oliver was an avid gardener and a lover of classical music, a faithful listener to the Saturday Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. He and his family vacationed at the NJ Shore most summers. He enjoyed writing long letters to his children at college and to his old friend from high school, James Bready. Reading science fiction was also a favorite activity. Oliver was only 5 feet 6 inches tall, but he had a fine resonant speaking voice. Although he had back problems all of his life (scoliosis), he never let that keep him from doing the gardening work he loved.
Only child of his parents. Named after his mother's Uncle Ollie Wriggins, sheriff of Salem County. Grew up in southern NJ and Philadelphia area, except for several years in the 1920s when the family lived in Harbin, China. He learned to speak some Chinese while there. Graduated from Woodbury High School in 1934. Attended Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, but left without graduating due to running out of money. He worked at the Evening Bulletin and the Philadelphia Inquirer as a general and later a financial news reporter. Served in the US Army Air Corps in WW II as a weather observer, stationed in Texas (Kelly Field) and Egypt. As a Staff Sergeant he was responsible for a variety of duties as the war wound down, including running the base Officers' Club outside Cairo. While in Egypt he climbed the Great Pyramid with several of his buddies. He returned to working as a journalist after the war. Married Florence Hipple January 14, 1950. Father of three. In the early 1950s they moved to the Philadelphia suburbs in Delaware County (Penn Pines, later Aldan). From then on Oliver's mother Alice lived with them. Became Managing Editor and later Editor and Publisher of The Eastern Banker, a weekly financial newspaper with circulation throughout the Northeast. In the early 1970s he took a job as a Public Affairs officer with the PA Dept. of Banking under state Banking Secretary Carl Dellmuth. He worked there until his retirement, serving under several governors and several state Banking Secretaries. He wrote the first consumer education pamphlets distributed by the state Banking Dept. He was active in the Boy Scouts and in the Pennsylvania Public Relations Society. Oliver was an avid gardener and a lover of classical music, a faithful listener to the Saturday Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. He and his family vacationed at the NJ Shore most summers. He enjoyed writing long letters to his children at college and to his old friend from high school, James Bready. Reading science fiction was also a favorite activity. Oliver was only 5 feet 6 inches tall, but he had a fine resonant speaking voice. Although he had back problems all of his life (scoliosis), he never let that keep him from doing the gardening work he loved.
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Staff Sergeant US Army Air Force
WW II
Beloved Parents
