Iowa City Loses "An Icon"

Anyone who’s been to the Iowa City  a few times no doubt knew Kevin Olish.

I knew him just as Kevin. You may know him by sight -- the guy with glasses, a thick goatee and equally thick long brown hair (more recently he chopped it and started wearing contacts). Or maybe you knew him as the guy who loved to chat you up while ringing in your purchase. If you had somewhere to get to, you avoided his line. I know I did on a few occassions.

Kevin passed away unexpectedly on Sunday. 

Jenifer Angerer, the marketing manager at the Co-op, said Kevin had some health problems in the past year, but his death comes as a shock, and details of his death aren't known yet. He died at the hospital, she said, but she did not know the cause. She said he was in his mid-50s. 

“Kevin was very interesting. He could speak on almost any subject. His top topics were space, heavy metal music and politics,” Angerer said. “Kevin wasn’t in a hurry.”

"He was an interesting guy," she said. "We will miss him."

Did you know Kevin Olish? Share your memories. Click on the photo gallery to read about Kevin in the Co-op's newsletter, which they shared with Patch, and here is a column from the Co-op about the loss of their friend.

Kevin was a fixture at the Co-op. He’d worked there forever (actually since 1996), and I always saw him stationed at the cashier line closest to the door. That’s were he liked to be.

Members of the community say the grocery store won’t be the same without him.

A Facebook page “In Memory of Kevin Olish” has been set up for people to share their thoughts about Kevin.

“Kevin Olish was a very special part of New Pioneer. He passed away yesterday unexpectedly and we will miss him very much. Please share your favorite memories here or in the basket in the Iowa City store. We'd like to share how special he was to all of us with his family,” the page says.

The Co-op has a memorial set up in his lane -- Lane No. 1 -- for people to share thoughts. The Co-op expects to hold a tribute for him after speaking with family members, who live out of town, Angerer said.

A 2008 Co-op newsletter says Kevin grew up in Cedar Rapids and moved to Santa Monica, CA for seven years before returning to Iowa.

My memory of Kevin is getting into conversations about concerts, specifically Grateful Dead shows, and if I recall correctly he could tell me about the set lists of certain performance in certain cities years and years ago. 

I didn’t know Kevin well at all, but I share in the sadness. He was one of those staples in our community that helped things flow as they should. A friend of mine who has also passed away had this running list of what he called “The Legends of Iowa City.” They are the people you don’t necessarily know well but always see, and they were often quirky or funny, but the most important piece was they were memorable. Kevin certainly was a legend.

“He is kind of an icon," Angerer said. "He’s the face of the Co-op.”