Edith Mary Ganley Olmstead

Died 13 September 2022, La Mesa California USA

Eldest child of Francis and Mary Lafontaine Ganley, Edie helped raise her 9 siblings and at an early age, expressed a desire to become a doctor. Even when, at the age of 12, she was told to stay home from school to assist her mother in having a baby, her father insisted that “girls can't be doctors”. Later she would tell baby #9, brother Chuck, that she really wanted to drop him on his head.

She married Lawrence (Larry) Croake in 1952 and escaped to California, where she became a US citizen in 1958. After Larry’s unexpected death, she moved to San Diego and while working at Pacific Telephone, met her lifelong friend Sandy Garman and second husband James (Jim) Cantlen. They married in 1959 and enjoyed 4 happy years together, often water skiing. While attending grief counseling, she met Robert (Bob) Olmstead, whose wife Elaine had passed away during the same time period as Jim.

She left Pac Tel in 1965, following her marriage to Bob Olmstead and helped raise his two children, Bobby, then 10 and Susie, age 12. She also became involved in the Grossmont Hospital Auxiliary as a Pink Lady and a few years later, went back to school to earn her nursing degree. She worked as a nurse at Grossmont Hospital and as an ICU nurse at Hilltop Hospital. After retiring from nursing, she became a patient volunteer at Sharp HospiceCare, one of the first in the newly set up hospice program. She was the influence for Sandy becoming a volunteer there as well.

In the late 1980’s Edie joined an art class at Foothills Adult Education taught by Marie C. Wordell, an internationally acclaimed abstract artist. She talked Sandy into joining the class when Sandy retired in 1993. After Marie died, her students formed a group of 12, including Creela Villani, who continue to paint together at the community center in Crest. Creela and Edie shared kinship through Edie’s sister Carol Ganley Scotese.

A lifelong learner, Edie was an avid birder and learned, with Sandy, to fly small planes. Her favorite memory was of her first solo flight over the Salton Sea, which she admitted was both exhilarating and terrifying. She read extensively, and by keeping every book she read since the age of 14, acquired a library with over 1800 volumes. Along with painting, she took up stained glass, learned Italian, Spanish and Portuguese and travelled extensively. She and Bob visited the South Pacific and Australia to see her brother Chuck and took cruises around South America and Europe. Chuck would often fly from Australia to meet Edie in distant lands. He will never forget her yelling his name as she pushed her way across the posh lobby of the Gezira Palace Hotel in Cairo. She made many visits to Africa and on one occasion learned to track rhinos in the Okavango delta. She told a friend, “You don’t know how strong you are until you travel alone and empower yourself.”

She spent many happy hours at the Olmstead ranch in Descanso and encouraged friends and family to visit. She also loved her solitude in nature and often stayed the weekend on her own, rising before the sun to watch the wildlife. She rarely missed her Wednesday breakfasts with Sandy, a practice which brought them both great pleasure. Edie was a good and loyal friend; not demonstrative with her affection, but Sandy knew she could count on the deep friendship and love they shared.

The family plans to scatter her ashes at the ranch, joining Bob who passed away in 2007.