Olga I. Foss M’06
Olga I. Foss, VT, Burlington, VT, died May 13, 2023, of cancer.
Her husband told her life story in rich detail in Olga’s Burlington Free Press obituary, some of which follows: “Olga was born in Krasny-Sulin, Russia [in 1965], and her childhood was a typical happy one with many piano lessons each week taught to her by her father and mother. She was always excited for the lesson to be finished as she would burst through the door outside to the nature surrounding her quaint modest home to play… Olga excelled through her elementary and high school learning …. When her brother Igor was born in 1976 Olga took him into her loving embrace … and together with their mother traveled Europe by train and the Mediterranean by cruise ships, including stops in Turkey and Cyprus … Olga was fascinated by their trip to Italy and touring the ancient city of Rome, just as later in life her fascination to discover and experience any new place brought her great joy, she had a passion for adventure.
“Olga was always receptive to meeting and growing friendships, through several years of work at the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program she met and helped dozens of Refugees of Meskhetian Turks gain employment, housing and interpreted for them with local Vermonters welcoming them to Waterbury, VT.
“Olga again advanced her knowledge and met more friends attending business courses at Saint Michael’s College, starting in 2004 and graduating in 2007. Working nights at IBM in Logic Testing, in 2008 she decided to pursue a career in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She passed the entrance formalities and was sent to Austin, TX, where she passed all requirements” [at the DHS “boot camp” there].
“Slowly in those years she yearned to be a mother, she prayed at many churches … She lit many candles and placed them with great care near the statues of Mary and prayed for a child and then was given her happiest news she was waiting so patiently for [in] 2013 that she achieved her loftiest goal and was pregnant. A few days later she was told she was pregnant with twin princesses!
“Three weeks later the terrible medical condition of cancer arrived with a seizure during work when an alert fellow employee heard a sudden cry. She immediately went to check Olga and caught her falling out of her desk chair with an active seizure, thus preventing Olga and her unborn babies in her womb from potential injury. Her team around her began first aid and called 911 to summon Essex Rescue to her aid, and later she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.
“Olga immediately upon learning of the disease she was stricken with resolve to fight back and most importantly obtain her goal to survive to at least the date of the twins’ birth and on May 8-2014 she accomplished her goal and lived to be with her most cherished and precious gifts God ever bestowed upon her.”
Olga is survived by her husband, Daniel, her twin daughters, her parents and extended family.
To read the full obituary, click here: https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/obituaries/bfp041861