Olin Bale Bridges left this earth to meet his Lord and be reunited with his wife on February 28, 2024. If there are fishing holes in heaven, he will soon be inviting all the neighbors for a fish fry.

Olin was born October 12, 1932, near Hastings, Oklahoma, in rural Cotton County, to Arthur and Lota Bridges. He was the oldest of their nine children.  During his childhood he lived in and around Hastings, graduating from high school in 1951.

He married Reba Shirley, his high school sweetheart, in Hastings on July 29, 1951, and they began their many adventures in Pampa, Texas, where he received his lineman certification. In 1957 they pulled their 32-foot trailer to beautiful Colorado, where he found lineman work in several towns. They first lived in and around the Colorado Springs and Denver area, then Salida for 18 years, Silverthorne for 1 year, and Leadville for 22 years, where he retired in 1993 after 36 years as a lineman and trouble man with Public Service Company of Colorado.  After retirement, they lived in Canon City for 15 years, and Gering, Nebraska, for 7 years, where Reba passed away in 2015. He then lived in a cabin by Waurika Lake in Oklahoma for 5 years before moving to Brush, Colorado in 2023.

God blessed them with David in 1952, Janice in 1954, and Shirley in 1961.  He and Reba loved to explore in their motor home. They traveled from Mexico to Alaska and from the East Coast to the West, with several winters in Arizona with the other "snowbirds." He would have been happy to have lived full-time in the RV, and even happier if there was a fishing hole and a boat involved.

Olin was a faithful and loving husband and missed Reba every day of the nine years since her passing. He cherished his children, adored his grandchildren, and treasured his great-grandchildren, always looking forward to their visits, then wishing they had been longer. He cared for his siblings and enjoyed being closer to them in his later years. He made friends wherever he went, helping and encouraging them however he could. He made and gave away hundreds of wood-working treasures to friends and family across the country. He was a committed Christian and enjoyed time together with his church family.

He loved cooking big meals for guests, wood-working, passing out mints before church services, inventing new gadgets from scratch, fixing broken things, and most of all, fishing.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Reba Joy Shirley Bridges; his father, Arthur; his mother, Lota, and his brothers Donald, Marion, and Loren.

He is survived by his son, David Bridges and his wife Kathy, of Brush, Colorado; his daughter Janice Cunningham and her husband, Robert, of Mechanicsville, Virginia; his daughter, Shirley Swanson, and her husband, Barry, of Gering, Nebraska. His grandchildren, Michael Dows, and his wife, Kristine, of Charles City, Virginia; Julie Bridges of Thornton, Colorado; Joshua Bridges and his wife, Jennifer, of Fort Morgan, Colorado; Stacia Swanson of Scottsbluff, Nebraska; and Ryan Swanson and his wife, Joanna, of Sheridan, Wyoming; his great-grandchildren, Aleah, Adalee, Lilyana, Nathaniel, and Hannah Bridges of Fort Morgan, Colorado; Titus and Ellie Swanson of Sheridan, Wyoming; Keirstian Sandico and Joaquin Aquino, of Charles City, Virginia; his sisters, Patricia Burgess of Goldendale, Washington; Charlotte Peck and her husband, B.G., of Duncan, Oklahoma; Lisa Gillmore of Rockdale, Texas; his brothers, Gary and his partner, Jaqueline Salinas, of Amarillo, Texas; Farrell and his wife, Marolyn, of Marlow, Oklahoma.

All who were privileged to know him will remember him fondly.

A memorial service to celebrate his life will be held Monday, March 18, at the All Saints Church at Eben Ezer Care Center in Brush, Colorado.  The family respectfully requests no flowers.