Olga Moreland
Age - 84
October 4, 2023
Olga Moreland (1939-2023)Olga Budor Moreland, 84, passed away on October 3 at her home in Spencertown. With her were her husband of 47 years, Tom, their son Bill of Princeton, Mass. , and Kim Heath and Susan Maloy, two of the many home health aides who had helped Tom attend to Olga over the last four years. Olga had lived with Parkinson's, a progressive disease, since being diagnosed in 2001. Olga is also survived by her brother Merrill (Marge) Budor of Farmington Hills, Michigan, and their two sons, Nicholas and Andrew, and her nephew Aaron Kanar of Woodbury, New Jersey, the son of Olga's sister Ann. Ann and her daughter Ellen pre-deceased Olga. Olga Budor was born in Hamtramck, Michigan, on March 19, 1939, to William and Mary Budor (formerly Budorowych), both immigrants from Ukraine. She graduated from Hamtramck high school in 1956, and won a full four-year scholarship to the University of Michigan from the Ford Motor Company, where her father worked. After receiving from Michigan her B. A. degree in 1960 and then a Master's Degree in Russian Studies in 1962, Olga moved to New York City. She worked for many years in a public information capacity for the New York City Planning Department, where she oversaw preparation of the Department's master plan for the city, released in 1969. Olga worked on the short-lived 1972 presidential campaign of Mayor John Lindsay. She later served as Deputy Director of the Mayor's Office for the Apparel Industry. In 1984 Olga switched careers and entered Rutgers Law School, where she was selected for the Rutgers Law Review. After graduation she worked in New York at the leading environmental law firm of Beveridge & Diamond. In 1969 Olga met Tom Moreland, a lawyer and today the Austerlitz Town Historian. They married in 1976. In 1980 Bill joined the family, at the age of three days, and the Morelands purchased a weekend house in Hillsdale. In 1995 they moved to Spencertown, purchasing an 1807 house on Dugway, which became their full-time residence in 2009. Olga was active in community affairs as a leader of Zoning for Austerlitz. Among town board members she was known as "that woman," due to her assertive presence at town board meetings. Olga was a formidable personality until, after a point, Parkinson's took hold. In March 2019 Olga enjoyed a large surprise 80th birthday party at the Spencertown Academy. However, a few months later her condition worsened, resulting in a 21-day hospital stay. Over the next four years Olga and Tom had dedicated 24/7 assistance from home health care aides, including in the last year Kim Heath, Paula Westover, Susan Maloy, Melanie Hoopes, Erin Wickenheiser, Kelli Pritchett, McKenzie Pritchett, Sue Diskin, Michele Hotaling, Lucy Keegan, Marissa Boyles and Mandi Lawson. And for many years Olga enjoyed the help of her beloved physical therapist, Jessica Tassinari Shanahan. Almost every evening, starting in March 2020, Tom and Olga enjoyed a 21-mile round trip from their house, with Olga's aide in the back seat counting the number of deer along the route. The record was 402 deer, on April 2, 2023. Near the end, one night on Dugway the Morelands spotted a beautiful and rare white fawn. Almost an apparition, and perhaps a sign. Visiting hours at the Wenk Funeral Home in Chatham will be from 3 to 5 pm on Friday, October 6, followed by a funeral service at 5 pm. Burial will be in the Spencertown cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Olga's memory may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (michaeljfox. org). To plant Memorial Trees in memory of Olga B. Moreland, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.Show more
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