Olga Strimple

A Legendary Woman

by: Carrie Cocklin & Alissa Nichols

Olga Strimple truly is a legendary woman. As one of the first graduates of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), Olga continued to dedicate herself to the success of the University well after her graduation. Writer, mother, wife—Olga took on many roles, all of which she took on with passion and met with excellence.

Because of her exhaustive efforts to build UNO’s Alumni Association, Olga was named UNO’s Legendary Woman of 2010, a title that she undoubtedly deserved. Olga leaves behind a legacy that cannot be ignored, as well as her poetry and a family who will always refer to her simply as “mom.”

Jorgy

Olga Jorgensen Strimple, also known as “Jorgy” to her classmates, attended Omaha University (OU), later known as University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), from 1915 to 1919. At that time, OU was located on 24^th and Pratt, and held its first classes in the Redick Mansion. It was a time when women wore long skirts with boots and neat, wide-brimmed hats when getting an education was an honor and a privilege for which students fought. Olga started her journey at OU and stayed true to her school; she became one of the most well-known and involved alumni in UNO’s rich history, and her legacy resonates even today.

Recognized as a good student and talented editor, Olga was president of her class of 19 students, as well as a member of several extracurricular groups. She studied the arts while still finding time to serve as editor of the YELLow Sheet student newspaper, and later, the Gateway.  She played basketball, swam, and attended sporting events. She was a member of Kappa Psi Delta sorority and she served on the Gala Day Central Committee. Always a believer in the power of education, Olga was also an early proponent of service learning, a classroom technique where students get involved with the community along with the classroom activities. Upon commencement, she became the Gateway Alumni Editor and President of the University of Omaha Alumni Association in 1922 (“History of the UNO Alumni Association”).  In 1935, she represented the OU Alumni Association on the committee that helped establish the traditions of Ma-ie Day, a Native American-oriented festival celebrating spring and the planting season. According to a Gateway article published on September 27, 1994, these traditions were created to help “emphasize the dignity of the Native Americans” after which the ceremony was named (Walsh, Gateway archives).

Early Life And Marriage

Olga Strimple was born on June 6, 1898, in Kennard, Nebraska. She received her education at Florence Grade School, Central High School, Omaha University, and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. On a break from school, she met Cecil Strimple, a former soldier who fought in World War I, and the love of Olga’s life. They married in June 1925 and made Omaha their home.

Thor Strimple lives in the home his mother occupied overlooking Hanscom Park. He is one of two sons born to Olga and Cecil Strimple, though his brother, Henry, passed in his twenties.  Thor speaks of his mother with a wide smile and he laughs often. He remembers that “mom” was always waiting for the boys when they arrived home from school. For a woman who contributed so much to the world, it amazes me how often one hears stories of her ability to care for so many.

Thor has a daughter, Lisa, who has a quiet smile and looks down as she speaks of her grandmother, the woman she also knew as “mom.” Lisa and Thor answer questions as new ones begin to form.  They provide a portrait of Olga on her wedding day as well as a book of Olga’s poetry, which provides significant insight into her personality.

Insight Into Olga Through Her Poetry

Olga’s unpublished book of poetry begins with a sworn affidavit stating that she, the author, attended an archeological dig in approximately 1906, which resulted in the discovery of the remains of a Native American Chief named Snow Storm and his young son. Olga would have been 10 years old, and this event would be known in the scientific community through a paper titled “Evidence of Man in the Loess Hills,” published in 1907.  

The paper describes the location of the burial mound as well as the size, shape, and location of various bones.  Olga tells a much deeper story, of a man who lost a son too soon–a mighty warrior, a chief, dreamily imagining the past, and reflecting on how quickly things change.

This theme is one that would follow Olga throughout her life. She witnessed the world change through war, technology, fashion, and ideals; Olga also witnessed her own life change through both wonderful and tragic events. Still, Olga proved that through love, family, and dedication, one could always find joy.

But who can say

What the coming day

Will leave when it has gone away;

And who can know

If joy or woe

Will linger past its sunset glow.

-Olga Strimple

 

Our Changing Future

Olga demonstrated her strength, kindness, and poetic nature in an article for the Gateway entitled “Our Changing Future,” which was published on October 2, 1942. This article reads more like a letter to the students and staff of UNO, urging them to meet the tough times brought on by World War II with “fortitude” (Strimple, Gateway archives). Olga writes, “Our world is changing faster than it ever has….Often we are resentful of changes and cling to the old familiar ways,” yet explains that Americans must learn to adapt to the changing world around them: “We must have faith—faith that beyond this war lies peace” (Strimple, Gateway archives). The spirit of perseverance is one that seems to follow Olga throughout her poems and throughout the both rewarding, and devastating, moments of her life.

But time goes on,

It is not long

For those who wait not; time’s swift song

Sings through the ages

And the pages

Of histories written by the sages.

-Olga Strimple

Alumni Association

Olga returned to UNO as President and Executive Secretary of the Alumni Association in 1941 and remained president until 1944. In her years on the board, she worked to gain accreditation for the Omaha chapter of the American Association of University Women. She later became the Executive Secretary of the Association and its first paid employee. Olga was awarded a lifetime membership in October of 1945; her contributions were so significant that her resignation in 1948 was rejected by the Board. Instead, she was granted a six-month leave of absence. 

Minutes from the meeting include the notes from the actual discussion, and report “Dr. Thompson said that Mrs. Strimple had developed this association work, had taken it on a part-time bases [sic], but gave full-time service and that we owe her gratefulness for what she has done.” Olga finally resigned from the Association in 1949. Cecil, her loving husband of nearly three decades, passed away shortly thereafter.

What Follows Tragedy?

Henry Strimple, the oldest son of Olga and Cecil, was often doted upon. In 1935, when Henry was eight, Olga presented him with a brand-new globe. The boy exclaimed: “You bought the world for me!” and a new poem was born.  Olga’s dedication to Henry was published in the Omaha World Herald and recognized by a globe company who asked to use the verses in future advertising.  The company presented Henry and Olga with a brand-new, larger globe.

Sadly, in 1949, Henry Strimple took his own life at the young age of 22. It is difficult to know how Olga went on after such a tragedy. Her poems, paintings, and continued love for her family are evidence that she did in fact move forward. Like Snow Storm, Olga, the chief of her own tribe, persevered.

When I too suffer loss,

In strength I hope to grow;

May I not wail and toss

In aimless grief and woe.

But like the barren trees

Against my winter sky,

May I make filigrees

That please the passerby.

-Olga Strimple

UNO's Legendary Woman of 2010

In March 2009, Olga Strimple was honored by the Chancellor’s Commission in the Status of Women with the Legendary Women of UNO Award. The number of poems, paintings, drawings, and other artistry provided by her family, not to mention the number of family members in attendance was overwhelming. Olga’s great-granddaughter, who bears her name, said that she knows Olga through her poetry. Olga’s great grandson, Victor, spoke eloquently for the family as he accepted Olga’s award. A single cliché comes to mind: “The apple does not fall far from the tree.”

So much of Olga’s art revolves around her true loves: her family and the outdoors. A section of her poem “These Are Our Hills” talks of her father, Thor Jorgensen, the man who carried a gun with no ammunition as he walked through the open prairie with his two red dogs chasing at his heels.

Olga believed that the best way to live was to leave the world better than how you found it. Her book of poetry was painstakingly typed out with perfect margins and immaculate spelling, bound together in a simple yellow folio in 1976, when Olga was 82.  Perhaps this was her final gift.  Olga passed away in July of 1987, leaving a legacy few who came to know her will forget.

Bare branches making lace,

Against the winter sky;

With delicacy trace

Designs that hold the eye.

Black and bare and strong,

Against the silver gray

They stand the winter long

Defiant of the May.

Stripped of summer’s dress,

Bereaved of flowers of spring;

They bow not in distress

But through them wild winds sing.

Proudly against the sky

In tracings bold and strong,

Their filigrees defy

Memories of youth and song.

-Olga Strimple