Concordia University Chicago Athletics

Ruth (Buhrke) Olson, ’74, earned her B.A. from Concordia and her M.A. in education from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She lettered in basketball for four seasons, and field hockey and softball for three seasons each. Upon graduation, Olson played six seasons of semi-professional slow pitch softball for the Lombard Big Blue.

            
Olson taught and coached for 12 years for Concordia, Triton Junior College, Bowling Green State University and Colorado College. Since 1987, she has worked for the city of Colorado Springs as a firefighter, emergency medical technician, and driver/engineer. Olson has taught introductory courses for the fire department to high school girls and has worked with the mentoring program for women applying to the department. She has also served on the City of Colorado Springs Workforce Management Council for five years, chairing the group for three years.