Olga Rose was born on March 15 at home in NY city, and although official records say 1920, she always told us it was 1922, never one to want to be known as older than anyone would guess. After she finished high school and a few small beginners retail jobs she worked during WWII as a cargo crane operator on the Brooklyn docks and she was good. One of her characteristics in life was the drive to learn and be excellent in the tasks that she took on - though sometimes to a fault. During that time, she became a lifelong Yankees fan which several years later led to a lot of kibitzing with her Orioles-rooting MD friends. With the end of the war and return of the men, she became a telephone operator - manually plugging call connection leads into the system peg boards of that era. She loved to sew; she made her Singer sing and made furnishings and outfits for herself and friends over the years.

In 1949 she married Stanley Smialek - a navy petty officer - and moved first to Baltimore where he was stationed and then to Annapolis when he was transferred there. It was in Annapolis that she bonded with other navy wives and their families, many who became lifelong friends. There too she became a bowling fan, elected captain of her women's league team for 4 years. Her artistic talent was also evident; in her naval housing subdivision her yearly painted Christmas window displays won several prizes. Their next move was in 1957 to Stan's new duty station in Puerto Rico. She returned states side to Annapolis and single in 1960, working as the Maryland state house receptionist and a Howard Johnson restaurant greeter.

Better opportunity in 1967 led her back to the telephone company - now Bell Atlantic in the Washington DC area - where she worked and lived until retiring in 1990. She moved back to Annapolis and friends shortly after, and in the years after returning, she and they shared day trips to surrounding states, many nights playing cards and board games plus expeditions to the Delaware slots and local Bingos. She also made a lot of trips back to NY to help care for her ailing older sister who died in 2006. Her traveling got scaled back in 2011 when poor vision forced her to stop driving and even more in 2022 when her physical problems required her to move to Assisted Living. She passed away at the Annapolitan Assisted Living facility in July.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday July 28, 2025 at 11:00am at St Andrew by the Bay Catholic Church 701 College Pkwy, Annapolis, MD 21409. Interment will be private.