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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name=Olaf James Fink | nationality=American | office=Louisiana State Senator<br> for Algiers (15th Ward of New Orleans) | party=..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Olaf James Fink
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| office=[[Louisiana]] State Senator<br> for Algiers (15th Ward of New Orleans)
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democratic]]
| term_start=1956
| term_end=1972
| preceded=
| succeeded=Orleans Parih delegation dropped from eight to seven members
| birth_date=March 15, 1914
| death_date=March 26, 1973 (aged 59)
| birth_place=[[New Orleans]], Louisiana, USA
| death_place=New Orleans, Louisiana
| resting_place=Westlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Gretna in Jefferson Parish
| residence=New Orleans, Louisiana
| occupation=[[Educator]] and [[politician]]
| alma_mater=S. J. Peters Boys High School of Commerce<br>
Spring Hill College<br>
Loyola University New Orleans
| parents=Charles Peter and Mary Caroline Lind Fink
| spouse=Doris Jean Smith Fink
| children=No children
| religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
| branch=[[United States Navy]] Reserve}}
'''Olaf James Fink''' (March 15, 1914 – March 26, 1973) was an [[educator]] and a [[politician]] from [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], who served as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] state senator from 1956 to 1972.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership of the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2024: Orleans Parish|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=December 15, 2020}}</ref>
==Biography==
Born in Algiers, the 15th Ward of New Orleans, Fink was the eldest of six children of Charles Peter Fink and the former Mary Caroline Lind. He resided at the age of twenty-six with his parents at 245 Vallette Street in New Orleans. He was listed in the 1940 U.S. Census as a "commercial teacher" who had at the time left college after three years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?h=122490761&db=1940usfedcen&indiv=1&gss=seo1940|title=Olaf Fink in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=JDecember 15, 2020}}</ref>
Fink was educated at [[John McDonogh]] Public School No. 4 and the S. J. Peters Boys High School of Commerce in New Orleans. He then attended the private [[Roman Catholic]] Spring Hill College in [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Alabama]], from which he received his Bachelor of Arts degree. He obtained a master's degree from Loyola University New Orleans. He taught at Nicholls and Peters high schools, but the majority of his career was at Behrman High School, named for Martin Behrman, the longest-serving [[mayo]]r of New Orleans. Prior to his retirement in May 1972, both in teaching for thirty-three years and in the state Senate for sixteen years, Fink was a member of the faculty at Edna Karr Junior High School. He also was for a time the secretary of the influential Orleans Levee Board. He sponsored the Olaf Fink Golf Tournament for Teenagers at Brechtel Park in Algiers. He was heavily committed to improving the lot of the mentally retarded.<ref name=bio/> An officer of the [[United States Navy]] Reserve,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Olaf+James&gsln=Fink&MSAV=1&msbdy=1914&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=upc&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=4977388&recoff=11+12+13&db=ORMilitaryRegisters&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2|title=Olaf James Fink in Select Military Registers|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=July 7, 2015}}</ref> he was a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was also affiliated with Lions International, and the Choctaw Carnival Club, a participant in [[Mardi Gras]].<ref name=bio/><ref>Olaf J. Fink obituary, ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' March 27, 1973.</ref>
Fink died in New Orleans at the age of fifty-eight in the early spring of 1973, less than a year after his retirement. He is interred at Westlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Gretna in [[suburb]]an Jefferson Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Fink&GSfn=Olaf&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=79900039&df=all&|title=Olaf James Fink|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=December 15, 2020}}</ref> He was married to the former Doris Jean Smith (1919-2008), who in 1959 was listed as an office secretary in New Orleans. She died in Montpelier in Williams County in northwestern [[Ohio]]. The couple had no children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=Doris+S.&gsln=Fink&mswpn__ftp=New+Orleans%2c+Orleans%2c+Louisiana%2c+USA&mswpn=34322&mswpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c1652393%7c0%7c2%7c3246%7c21%7c0%7c2249%7c34322%7c0%7c&MSAV=1&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=upc&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=796719066&db=USDirectories&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1|title=Doris Jean Smith Fink|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=July 7, 2015}}</ref>
In May 1974, the Orleans Parish School Board renamed the special education center at 1300 Richland Road on the West Bank of New Orleans the Olaf Fink Center for Pre-Vocational Education.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-f/|title=Fink, Olaf J.|publisher=Louisiana Historical Association: ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography''|accessdate=December 15, 2020}}</ref> Along with other properties, the board sold the Fink Center in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.louisianalandmarks.org/preserve/new-orleans-nine-archive/2005-2011-listings-in-the-media|title=Olaf Fink Center sold by School Board|date=February 1, 2011|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|author=Martha Carr|accessdate=July 7, 2015}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Olaf}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:United States Navy]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]
| name=Olaf James Fink
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| office=[[Louisiana]] State Senator<br> for Algiers (15th Ward of New Orleans)
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democratic]]
| term_start=1956
| term_end=1972
| preceded=
| succeeded=Orleans Parih delegation dropped from eight to seven members
| birth_date=March 15, 1914
| death_date=March 26, 1973 (aged 59)
| birth_place=[[New Orleans]], Louisiana, USA
| death_place=New Orleans, Louisiana
| resting_place=Westlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Gretna in Jefferson Parish
| residence=New Orleans, Louisiana
| occupation=[[Educator]] and [[politician]]
| alma_mater=S. J. Peters Boys High School of Commerce<br>
Spring Hill College<br>
Loyola University New Orleans
| parents=Charles Peter and Mary Caroline Lind Fink
| spouse=Doris Jean Smith Fink
| children=No children
| religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
| branch=[[United States Navy]] Reserve}}
'''Olaf James Fink''' (March 15, 1914 – March 26, 1973) was an [[educator]] and a [[politician]] from [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], who served as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] state senator from 1956 to 1972.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership of the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2024: Orleans Parish|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=December 15, 2020}}</ref>
==Biography==
Born in Algiers, the 15th Ward of New Orleans, Fink was the eldest of six children of Charles Peter Fink and the former Mary Caroline Lind. He resided at the age of twenty-six with his parents at 245 Vallette Street in New Orleans. He was listed in the 1940 U.S. Census as a "commercial teacher" who had at the time left college after three years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?h=122490761&db=1940usfedcen&indiv=1&gss=seo1940|title=Olaf Fink in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=JDecember 15, 2020}}</ref>
Fink was educated at [[John McDonogh]] Public School No. 4 and the S. J. Peters Boys High School of Commerce in New Orleans. He then attended the private [[Roman Catholic]] Spring Hill College in [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Alabama]], from which he received his Bachelor of Arts degree. He obtained a master's degree from Loyola University New Orleans. He taught at Nicholls and Peters high schools, but the majority of his career was at Behrman High School, named for Martin Behrman, the longest-serving [[mayo]]r of New Orleans. Prior to his retirement in May 1972, both in teaching for thirty-three years and in the state Senate for sixteen years, Fink was a member of the faculty at Edna Karr Junior High School. He also was for a time the secretary of the influential Orleans Levee Board. He sponsored the Olaf Fink Golf Tournament for Teenagers at Brechtel Park in Algiers. He was heavily committed to improving the lot of the mentally retarded.<ref name=bio/> An officer of the [[United States Navy]] Reserve,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Olaf+James&gsln=Fink&MSAV=1&msbdy=1914&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=upc&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=4977388&recoff=11+12+13&db=ORMilitaryRegisters&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2|title=Olaf James Fink in Select Military Registers|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=July 7, 2015}}</ref> he was a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was also affiliated with Lions International, and the Choctaw Carnival Club, a participant in [[Mardi Gras]].<ref name=bio/><ref>Olaf J. Fink obituary, ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' March 27, 1973.</ref>
Fink died in New Orleans at the age of fifty-eight in the early spring of 1973, less than a year after his retirement. He is interred at Westlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Gretna in [[suburb]]an Jefferson Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Fink&GSfn=Olaf&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=79900039&df=all&|title=Olaf James Fink|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=December 15, 2020}}</ref> He was married to the former Doris Jean Smith (1919-2008), who in 1959 was listed as an office secretary in New Orleans. She died in Montpelier in Williams County in northwestern [[Ohio]]. The couple had no children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=Doris+S.&gsln=Fink&mswpn__ftp=New+Orleans%2c+Orleans%2c+Louisiana%2c+USA&mswpn=34322&mswpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c1652393%7c0%7c2%7c3246%7c21%7c0%7c2249%7c34322%7c0%7c&MSAV=1&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=upc&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=796719066&db=USDirectories&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1|title=Doris Jean Smith Fink|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=July 7, 2015}}</ref>
In May 1974, the Orleans Parish School Board renamed the special education center at 1300 Richland Road on the West Bank of New Orleans the Olaf Fink Center for Pre-Vocational Education.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-f/|title=Fink, Olaf J.|publisher=Louisiana Historical Association: ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography''|accessdate=December 15, 2020}}</ref> Along with other properties, the board sold the Fink Center in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.louisianalandmarks.org/preserve/new-orleans-nine-archive/2005-2011-listings-in-the-media|title=Olaf Fink Center sold by School Board|date=February 1, 2011|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|author=Martha Carr|accessdate=July 7, 2015}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Olaf}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:United States Navy]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]