David John Olderman

David John Olderman, loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, son, brother, uncle, friend, and Christian died on July 12, 2026 at his home surrounded by three generations of family.

An 11:00 mass will be celebrated on his birthday, August 19th, at St. Philip’s Catholic Church in Bemidji with visitation an hour earlier and possibly some birthday Grasshopper Pie following the service.

He was born a Buckeye on August 19, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio the first of three sons to Frances and Russell Olderman.  With WWII David began his first “job” recycling for the war effort and with his brothers helped to grow a victory garden thus beginning his lifelong love of work and gardening. Shortly after WWII David began caddying and his affinity for right handed golf even though he was a lefty.  Football, swimming, and baseball were other sports that he excelled at and though baseball scouts were interested in the tall southpaw pitcher, David went on to attend Denison University after graduating from Randolph Macon Military Academy. His first stint in college lasted less than a semester with a highlight being joining Beta Theta Pi. After Denison, David joined the Army in 1953 and served 3 plus years in the military. His accomplishments in the military included graduating summa cum laude from the cooking school then shifting gears to surveying the DEW(distant early warning) Line in Alaska and finally being stationed at Fort Knox in Kentucky. He went on a blind date with Jean Claire Rutten, a nurse, and sparks flew from the first kiss on the first date; “She kissed me back!” A few months later after his honorable discharge from the Army and whirlwind romance with Jean, they were married on December 29, 1956 thus beginning their 64+ years of marriage until Jean’s death in 2021. David worked nights and attended The Ohio State University in the day on the Korean GI Bill while Jean worked as a nurse in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating with a degree in Finance, David began his storied business career with Merrill Lynch while welcoming his children Jeanne Carol in 1958, Jill Frances in 1960, David Anderson in 1962 followed along with their siblings Susan, Matthew, and Jeffrey who died during childbirth. Jean left her nursing career to become a homemaker and mother full time which allowed David to put all his energies into his business career. He left Merrill Lynch to join Hayden Miller in Cleveland working with his father Russ and brother Speed. While at Hayden Miller David teamed with local businessmen and helped to establish the Cleveland Cavaliers professional basketball team. His ascendancy continued at Stone and Webster in Cleveland then in New York City where he became one of the youngest persons to lead one of the major investments and securities firms in the country. From there he moved onto Frostie Enterprises in New Jersey then to Railoc, an agricultural company that his father-in-law started, located in Plainfield, Illinois. Next David moved to Florida starting his own investment company the Olderman Group while simultaneously studying for a Masters of Divinity. What followed next was what he called his miracle, the purchase of Carret and Company in New York City in 1988. For approximately 10 years he and Jean lived in New York City, as he built up the company which he ultimately sold in 1997. He served on various boards while chairing VanEck until he “retired” at age 70. In his “retirement”, he worked with various Bemidji businessmen and mentored numerous entrepreneurs. At the same time, David established and endowed a scholarship at his high school alma mater thus continuing his lifelong philanthropy. His interests in life ran the gamut and included gardening, beekeeping, bread baking, fishing, hunting, reading, and storytelling. He is survived by his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren along with a brother, numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Not to mention wonderful friends near and far including those at Windsong. His last full day he sat on the porch of the house he built while he, the patriarch, joyously watched 3 generations of his family plant his last vegetable garden with his supervision and advice.

In lieu of cards and flowers, please consider a donation to the Bemidji Food Shelf or St. Philip’s School.

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