What do a farm couple do when they retire from farm life and move to the city? They make farm machinery – but on a small scale. That’s what Loren and Sharon Olson began doing when they retired in 2000.
Loren received the best possible education in America by attending the Bloomingdale two-room country school located a tad east of Westby in Vernon County in southwestern Wisconsin. Loren’s mechanical ability goes back to age 15, when he built a model steam engine on the family farm outside of the farming community of Westby, Wisconsin. His older brother, Ralph, constructed model airplanes.
Loren attended Westby High School and served in the U.S. Army (where he worked on the Nike missile system) from 1957-’60. While in the Army, Loren learned electronics. After leaving the service, he worked for National Cash Register. Then it was back to the farm for Loren and Sharon.
