Ollie George Rausch Jr

Ollie George Rausch Jr passed away December 15, 2024. He was born on July 9th 1944 to Ollie George Rausch Sr. And Ruth Price. Ollie grew up in Logan, Utah where he loved to run the town with his brothers. The saying went “you don’t mess with those Rausch boys” 

Ollie met Shauna Harrison at the capitol movie theater. They were 15 and 19 and it was love at first sight for both of them. They were married about a year later on October 23rd, 1964. They were later sealed in the Logan LDS temple. Ollie and Shauna had 3 amazing children together, Kim, Robert and Mindi. They were happily married for 61 years. 

Ollie joined the Air Force at the age of 19 where he served in Hawaii as a prop mechanic during the Vietnam war. Shauna with baby Kim joined him when he was stationed at Travis Air Force base in Fairfield California and Norton Air Force base in San Bernardino California. 

Upon his honorable discharge, Ollie and Shauna returned home and he began working at E.A. Miller’s in Hyrum. He later bought his grandpa’s house moving business and changed the name to “Intermountain Housing Division”. He moved old homes to new locations as well as huge buildings and schools to Wyoming. When his business was slow, he supplemented by hauling many different products such as cheese, cattle, and pigs. When he decided to hang up his hat with I.H.D., he started his own car hauling business, “Rausch Transport”, which he successfully ran for 50 years until his retirement. 

Ollie loved his family more than anything and made it a priority to spend as much time with them as was possible. Ollie always made sure he brought the fun. The grandkids have many memories with him boating, camping, hunting, snowmobiling and RZR riding. His favorite activity was riding horses with his family. His kids and grandkids adored him and loved stopping in to visit or to watch the Jazz game with him. 

Ollie had some once in a life time experiences such as hunting and fishing in Alaska. On one such trip, Ollie was caribou hunting in Alaska. He was dropped off by a bush plane to a remote hunting location. Other hunters and guides were scheduled to join him, but as the days went on, they didn’t come. Due to high winds and bad weather, the planes were not able to fly the other hunters in. Ollie ended up spending 7 days alone in Alaska . His only supplies were a tent and sleeping bag, and some bread and peanut butter. During this time, there was a bear that kept watching him. Instead of Ollie being the hunter he was the one being hunted! It was a trip never to be forgotten. 

Ollie was the most kind and generous man you could ever meet; he would give you the shirt off his back even if he needed it more. He was always looking for ways to serve others wherever he went. His favorite thing was to find a family in need and give them a great Christmas. Ollie played hard but worked even harder! 

In the last few years of his life, Ollie suffered with several health challenges. He lost vision in both eyes due to macular degeneration and glaucoma. He had several strokes that also affected his eyesight as well as his cognition towards the end. Through all of these difficulties, Ollie had a happy and uncomplaining attitude. His life was an inspiration for many. His family will miss him but we find comfort in knowing that grandpa no longer suffers with the struggles and pains of a mortal body. He is free from the limitations of his physical body. 

He is survived by his wife Shauna, his children Kim (Kim) Burrell, Robert (Marcy) Rausch, Mindi (Shane) Hodges, 12 grandkids, and 23 great grandkids. He is also survived by 3 siblings, Rod Rausch, Brent Rausch, and Cindy Zabriske. 

He was preceded in death by his parents Ollie George Rausch Sr., Ruth Price Rausch Jorgensen and his step father Cleon Jorgensen, 3 siblings, Bill Rausch, Kathy Isle, and Richard Rausch, and his father and mother in law, Kenneth and Fontella Harrison and his sweet dog Tazz, who passed just a couple of months before him. 

Ollie requested that we not hold a funeral. Instead, a celebration of life will be held in his honor February 1, 2025 from 2-4pm at the Mendon Station Located at: 

15 N Main St 

Mendon, UT 84325 

United States