Ola
O’Dell of Bethel, Vt., passed away on March 20, 2025, at the Mountain
View Center in Rutland.
Ola
moved to Bethel in 1992, following a two-year stint in the Peace
Corps in Sierra Leone. Ola chose Bethel because she had always wanted
to live in a place where it snowed and where she could have a
Victorian house.
Ola
was the second of six children born to Otis and Maggie O’Dell in
Chattanooga, Tenn. Always a free spirit, she had fond memories of
playing in the woods, climbing trees and swinging on wild grapevines.
After graduating from Chattanooga’s Central High School, Ola earned
a degree in elementary education from the University of Tennessee. In
1954 she met and married the late Allan Reniche. While Al attended
the University of Illinois on the G.I. Bill, Ola took a teaching job
in nearby Mattoon. By this time, they had two children. After Al
graduated from law school, they moved to Washington, D.C., where
their third child was born. They moved to Naperville, Ill., in 1962,
where they had two more children, and Ola taught at the Beebe School.
In 1973 the family moved west to California. Despite many years in
the Yankee North, Ola never lost her Tennessee accent.
Ola
married her second husband, stained-glass artist Finn Antofte, in
1983. They worked together in his San Diego studio until his death in
1985 from pancreatic cancer. Finn’s death was a major turning point
in Ola’s life and led to her remarkable decision to join the Peace
Corps at age 57 and ultimately move across the country from
California to Vermont.
Throughout
her life, Ola was never afraid to speak out for what she believed. A
proud Democratic voter with the bumper stickers to prove it, Ola was
an early advocate of gun control and marched in Washington, D.C.,
against the Second Gulf War. She loved being a Justice of the Peace
for Bethel and was thrilled to conduct Bethel’s first same-sex
wedding. In the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, she mobilized
volunteers and challenged local authorities on behalf of flood
victims. She even served a second stint with the Peace Corps in
Botswana at the age of 74! She loved music (Irish rebel songs and
Broadway show tunes), reading (presidential biographies), basset
hounds and gardening. In early 1994 she welcomed David Phair into her
home as her foster son and sixth child.
Evidence
of Ola’s impact on Bethel can be found in the flower beds and
gardens that she planted throughout the town — sometimes with
permission but often without. She even planted flowers in potholes.
Shortly after Ola was diagnosed with dementia, her many friends in
Bethel threw a party in her honor at Babe’s Bar. Even Rep. Peter
Welch (now Sen. Welch) came to dance with her.
Ola
was preceded in death by siblings Helene, Alfred and Mike, and
daughter-in-law Cynthia. She is survived by her sisters, Sherry Price
and Virginia Jo Cavin; her children, Cecil (Greg), Kent, Michele
(Otis), Kevin (Tammy), Kyle (Marie) and David (Michelle); and her
grandchildren, Mary Kame and Maggie Ginoza, Jessica Rausch and
Davontae Phair.
Her
family would especially like to thank Ola’s caregivers at the
Mountain View Center and Bayada Hospice, who loved her no matter how
feisty she got. No funeral is planned, but a celebration of life will
be held at a date to be determined.
In
lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Ola’s memory to the
Bethel Food Shelf, PO Box 211, Bethel VT 05032, Everytown for Gun Safety or the ACLU.