Born the youngest of eight children on October 24, 1870, and raised in Odense, Denmark, where his birth name was Jens Olsen, and where he trained to be an upholsterer and worked as a "coach maker."  He first came to America (and Cleveland) in 1892.  He fought in the Spanish-American War.  He returned to Denmark to officially emigrate to America in 1899 (later, two of his sisters also emigrated to America.)

He owned Central Auto Painting & Top Co., where he did upholstery of White Motor Company automobiles, as well as other work, and where he had the first "car elevator" installed in Cleveland.

He was a naturalized U.S. citizen.  He lived in a beautiful, iron-fenced home on Cedar Avenue and later in a beautiful home with six fireplaces on Denison Avenue.  He had become quite wealthy.

In 1925 he was able to send my grandmother (Cora Carney Olson) and their three children, along with a governess, to live in Denmark for a year to "get to know his family."  In 1929, he lost  virtually everything in the stock market crash and was devastated.  He then became physically rundown, contracted pneumonia and a kidney disease, and died May 18, 1931.  He was given a military funeral at his home.

Grandpa John was a gentle, soft-spoken man, who played the mandolin and enjoyed gardening and reading Zane Grey stories.  My grandfather is buried in Highland Park Cemetery in the military section right by the Spanish-American War Veterans’ monument.  His marker is the first one in the second row from the drive.

I hope this gives you a good picture of one of the men beneath one of the white gravestone markers at Highland Park Cemetery.

Respectfully submitted by his granddaughter,
Lorene Olsen Bowles
Wateringwheels@aol.com