Olga Foltz: a friendly face at our Holy Grounds
Falvey acknowledges with great sadness the untimely passing of Olga Foltz, a dining services employee who often worked in the library Holy Grounds. Although many of us knew Olga from the Holy Grounds coffee shop, she had other roles on campus.
She was a part-time student at Villanova University, and she loved to study languages. A native-born Russian who came to the United States at age 19, Olga taught Russian in the University’s Russian Studies Program.
Olga’s father and other family members remain in Russia.
A co-worker in Holy Grounds, Rosemary Thomas, says, “Olga was a pleasure to work with. I will miss her.” Falvey staff commented that Olga was cheerful, courteous, and she was witty and intelligent.
A memorial service and Mass were held in St. Thomas of Villanova Church on November 14.
Contributed by Alice Bampton
2 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
I used to look forward to seeing Olga when she opened the library Holy Grounds on Sundays; she was so friendly and cheerful. She always asked me about my son. She was sincere, too, and would remember what I said about him the previous time we spoke: “Oh, how did your son’s [such and such] go yesterday?” I didn’t realize until now just how much I looked forward to seeing Olga. I am grateful to have gotten to know her. She made the Library and the University a nicer place to work.
I was in Olga’s Russian class and she was amazing. She was able to make the class truly laugh which most teachers are unable to accomplish (though they do try.) I usually try to avoid running into my professors outside the classroom but I loved seeing Olga at the Holy Grounds in the library. She was always able to make me feel a little less stressed when I had a lot of work even if we only exchanged a few words. I wish I could have finished the semester with her and gotten to know her better. She will be missed.