Eeva-Liisa "Aulikki" Olsen, 84, of Zionsville, formerly of Lincoln, MA, died on March 2, 2009.
Aulikki was born on September 1, 1924 in Lahti, Finland, she was the daughter of Juho and Hilja Valve. She was a member of the Lotta Svaard, the women s auxiliary of the Finnish Army in the Winter War of 1939.
She attended Valparaiso University as an exchange student after the war. She immigrated to the United States after she married Kenneth Olsen.
She was the wife of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) co-founder and long-time president Kenneth Olsen. Most of the time, Alulikki kept her distance from the business. But that doesn't mean her behind-the-scenes role was unimportant.
For instance, when Olsen sought startup funding from American Research & Development, the nation's pioneer venture fund, General Doriot, its president, insisted on meeting Olsen's wife — to take the measure of the couple and ascertain whether she would support an entrepreneur bent on challenging the computer industry.
Aulikki reportedly charmed the general and his key associate, Dorothy Rowe, helping to cement a cordial friendship that lasted another 30 years.
And, according to the authors of The Ultimate Entrepreneur, a book which profiled Olsen and Digital at their peak, in the late 1980s, Olsen pursued his future wife, Eeva-Lissa Aulikki Valve, a Finnish exchange student he had first met through a mutual friend, with the same determination he later brought to building the second largest computer company in the world.
Despite the brevity of their acquaintance while Aulikki was in the U.S., Olsen put his graduate school work on MIT's Whirlwind computer aside long enough to fly to Europe and track down and court Aulikki.
Olsen had to support himself by working in a Swedish ball bearing factory and then, when the two decided to marry, he had to get special permission from the State Department because of Finland's ambiguous position in the cosmology of the cold war. They were married on Dec. 12, 1950, with Aulikki's father, a Lutheran minister, officiating.
She is survived by her husband and two children. She was preceded in death by one son.
A memorial service will be held at Zionsville Presbyterian Church on March 21 at 10:00 a.m. Condolences may be sent to www.flannerbuchanan.com.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Project Mercy, 7011 Ardmore Avenue, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46809.
Aulikki was born on September 1, 1924 in Lahti, Finland, she was the daughter of Juho and Hilja Valve. She was a member of the Lotta Svaard, the women s auxiliary of the Finnish Army in the Winter War of 1939.
She attended Valparaiso University as an exchange student after the war. She immigrated to the United States after she married Kenneth Olsen.
She was the wife of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) co-founder and long-time president Kenneth Olsen. Most of the time, Alulikki kept her distance from the business. But that doesn't mean her behind-the-scenes role was unimportant.
For instance, when Olsen sought startup funding from American Research & Development, the nation's pioneer venture fund, General Doriot, its president, insisted on meeting Olsen's wife — to take the measure of the couple and ascertain whether she would support an entrepreneur bent on challenging the computer industry.
Aulikki reportedly charmed the general and his key associate, Dorothy Rowe, helping to cement a cordial friendship that lasted another 30 years.
And, according to the authors of The Ultimate Entrepreneur, a book which profiled Olsen and Digital at their peak, in the late 1980s, Olsen pursued his future wife, Eeva-Lissa Aulikki Valve, a Finnish exchange student he had first met through a mutual friend, with the same determination he later brought to building the second largest computer company in the world.
Despite the brevity of their acquaintance while Aulikki was in the U.S., Olsen put his graduate school work on MIT's Whirlwind computer aside long enough to fly to Europe and track down and court Aulikki.
Olsen had to support himself by working in a Swedish ball bearing factory and then, when the two decided to marry, he had to get special permission from the State Department because of Finland's ambiguous position in the cosmology of the cold war. They were married on Dec. 12, 1950, with Aulikki's father, a Lutheran minister, officiating.
She is survived by her husband and two children. She was preceded in death by one son.
A memorial service will be held at Zionsville Presbyterian Church on March 21 at 10:00 a.m. Condolences may be sent to www.flannerbuchanan.com.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Project Mercy, 7011 Ardmore Avenue, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46809.
Eeva-Liisa "Aulikki" Olsen, 84, of Zionsville, formerly of Lincoln, MA, died on March 2, 2009.
Aulikki was born on September 1, 1924 in Lahti, Finland, she was the daughter of Juho and Hilja Valve. She was a member of the Lotta Svaard, the women s auxiliary of the Finnish Army in the Winter War of 1939.
She attended Valparaiso University as an exchange student after the war. She immigrated to the United States after she married Kenneth Olsen.
She was the wife of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) co-founder and long-time president Kenneth Olsen. Most of the time, Alulikki kept her distance from the business. But that doesn't mean her behind-the-scenes role was unimportant.
For instance, when Olsen sought startup funding from American Research & Development, the nation's pioneer venture fund, General Doriot, its president, insisted on meeting Olsen's wife — to take the measure of the couple and ascertain whether she would support an entrepreneur bent on challenging the computer industry.
Aulikki reportedly charmed the general and his key associate, Dorothy Rowe, helping to cement a cordial friendship that lasted another 30 years.
And, according to the authors of The Ultimate Entrepreneur, a book which profiled Olsen and Digital at their peak, in the late 1980s, Olsen pursued his future wife, Eeva-Lissa Aulikki Valve, a Finnish exchange student he had first met through a mutual friend, with the same determination he later brought to building the second largest computer company in the world.
Despite the brevity of their acquaintance while Aulikki was in the U.S., Olsen put his graduate school work on MIT's Whirlwind computer aside long enough to fly to Europe and track down and court Aulikki.
Olsen had to support himself by working in a Swedish ball bearing factory and then, when the two decided to marry, he had to get special permission from the State Department because of Finland's ambiguous position in the cosmology of the cold war. They were married on Dec. 12, 1950, with Aulikki's father, a Lutheran minister, officiating.
She is survived by her husband and two children. She was preceded in death by one son.
A memorial service will be held at Zionsville Presbyterian Church on March 21 at 10:00 a.m. Condolences may be sent to www.flannerbuchanan.com.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Project Mercy, 7011 Ardmore Avenue, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46809.
Aulikki was born on September 1, 1924 in Lahti, Finland, she was the daughter of Juho and Hilja Valve. She was a member of the Lotta Svaard, the women s auxiliary of the Finnish Army in the Winter War of 1939.
She attended Valparaiso University as an exchange student after the war. She immigrated to the United States after she married Kenneth Olsen.
She was the wife of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) co-founder and long-time president Kenneth Olsen. Most of the time, Alulikki kept her distance from the business. But that doesn't mean her behind-the-scenes role was unimportant.
For instance, when Olsen sought startup funding from American Research & Development, the nation's pioneer venture fund, General Doriot, its president, insisted on meeting Olsen's wife — to take the measure of the couple and ascertain whether she would support an entrepreneur bent on challenging the computer industry.
Aulikki reportedly charmed the general and his key associate, Dorothy Rowe, helping to cement a cordial friendship that lasted another 30 years.
And, according to the authors of The Ultimate Entrepreneur, a book which profiled Olsen and Digital at their peak, in the late 1980s, Olsen pursued his future wife, Eeva-Lissa Aulikki Valve, a Finnish exchange student he had first met through a mutual friend, with the same determination he later brought to building the second largest computer company in the world.
Despite the brevity of their acquaintance while Aulikki was in the U.S., Olsen put his graduate school work on MIT's Whirlwind computer aside long enough to fly to Europe and track down and court Aulikki.
Olsen had to support himself by working in a Swedish ball bearing factory and then, when the two decided to marry, he had to get special permission from the State Department because of Finland's ambiguous position in the cosmology of the cold war. They were married on Dec. 12, 1950, with Aulikki's father, a Lutheran minister, officiating.
She is survived by her husband and two children. She was preceded in death by one son.
A memorial service will be held at Zionsville Presbyterian Church on March 21 at 10:00 a.m. Condolences may be sent to www.flannerbuchanan.com.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Project Mercy, 7011 Ardmore Avenue, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46809.
