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Writer's pictureCarolina Conference

Lorraine Olson


OLSON, ALTHEA LORRAINE KINNEY HUDGINS HIRSCH, 99, born March 26, 1921, in New Orleans, LA, died February 3, 2021, in Cleveland, TN. She was member of Fletcher Church. Lorraine graduated from Broadview Academy in La Fox, Illinois, in 1938. She later attended Walla Walla College, Home Study Institute, and Atlantic Union College. On March 12, 1942, she married her academy sweetheart, Franklin W. Hudgins, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he was stationed during World War II. When the war was over, Franklin and Lorraine moved with their two daughters to Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1950, their third daughter was born. Lorraine worked beside her pastor husband as his secretary in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Ohio, then worked for Faith for Today and in Southern California. In 1974, Lorraine became administrative assistant to H.M.S. Richards and his son, H.M.S. Richards, Jr. at the Voice of Prophecy. When Franklin was called to the Columbia Union Conference in Takoma Park, Maryland, in 1977, Lorraine worked at the General Conference as the administrative secretary to Duane Johnson in Secretariat and later for A. J. Patzer and Neal C. Wilson in Presidential. When Lorraine and Franklin were called back to Southern California in 1983, Lorraine served as the Bible School supervisor at the Voice of Prophecy before retiring with Franklin on December 31, 1985. After retiring, they moved to Glendora, California, where they lived for ten years. In 1997, the couple moved into Linda Valley Villa in Loma Linda, California. Shortly after, Franklin was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. After caring for him for two years, he was transferred to the Care Center on the Villa Campus before he passed away on December 23, 2001. On June 9, 2002, Lorraine married Dr. Charles B. Hirsch, a long-time friend and colleague who had also lost his wife to the same disease. He passed away 18 months later. In September, 2004, Lorraine moved to the Collegedale, TN, area to be near her daughters. In 2007, she moved back to the Villa in Loma Linda. Lorraine married former Broadview Academy school mate Dr. Robert W. Olson (former director of the E.G. White Estate) on May 7, 2009. The next four years were spent happily at the Villa, and later at Fletcher Park Inn, where they moved in July, 2011. Bob died on April 15, 2013. In November, 2019, Lorraine’s children moved her to Morning Pointe, an assisted living facility in Ooltewah, TN. Lorraine co-authored pageants for two General Conference Sessions, and produced The Worth of a Soul, which was later presented at home and overseas under the title, Is My Name Written There? She was a member of the National Society of Mayflower Descendants, having descended from James Chilton, the oldest passenger to make the historic voyage. Lorraine is survived by her five children: Barbara Stevens (Ray), Sonnie Harp (Herman), Beverly Wahlne (Lennart), Lonnie Hudgins (Barbara), and Steve Hudgins (Sherri); 12 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.


Lorraine Olson with her children (Left to Right: Barbra Stevens, Steve Hudgins, Sonnie Harp, Lonnie Hodgins and Beverly Wahlne).

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