<< Previous   of   Next >> File photo  (click to enlarge) Edmonds City Councilwoman Peggy Pritchard Olson announced May 9 that she has Lou Gehrig's Disease.

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Edmonds politican has Lou Gehrig's Disease

By Chris Fyall
Enterprise editor

One of Edmonds’ most prominent politicians announced May 9 that she has Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Peggy Pritchard Olson, 58, the daughter of former U.S. Congressman and Washington Lt. Gov. Joel Pritchard, served as Edmonds’ City Council president in 2007. She was elected to her second four-year council term in November 2007.

She was diagnosed April 24, her birthday.

“This makes you look at things differently,” Olson said from a meeting room in City Hall. “Now it is all about family and friends.”

Olson is a founding member of the South Snohomish Cities, a group designed to increase communication between the county and its southern cities.

She plans to continue serving in Edmonds – and on her other boards and committees – as long as she is able, she said.

“As long as I can limp in, I’m going to stay,” Olson said. “My doctor said to keep doing everything I am doing as long as I can.”

Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is a degenerative neurological disease that isn’t well understood, but is often fatal, according to the ALS Association.

The mind is unaffected, but muscles in the body deteriorate. Already, Olson is using a cane to help her walk. Doctors have told her that unless they can slow the advance of the disease, she might only have a year to live.

Some people have lived for decades with ALS. The famous physicist and author Stephen Hawking has survived more than 40 years longer than doctors predicted he would.

Her diagnosis is obviously depressing, Olson said. But it could have been worse.

“I could have been hit by a bus. This way, everybody sends you flowers and e-mails and everybody tells you how wonderful you are.”

Olson has been a prominent citizen in Edmonds for more than 20 years – first for her work with the Edmonds Library, then her involvement with the Washington Tea Party fighting the Brightwater sewer treatment, and now for her work on Edmonds’ City Council and other outside positions.

“Peggy is a subtle, insightful but powerful person who can influence people’s thinking,” said John Quast, another member of the Washington Tea Party. “She has walked in her father’s footsteps, and she has done that very well.”

Olson was first diagnosed in April, but she started noticing loss of muscle control in December, when she first developed an on-again, off-again limp. In March, she started slurring her speech, and at one point she developed double vision.

The disease strikes suddenly and mysteriously, according to the ALS Association.

“It felt like it was a runaway train,” Olson said.

She will undergo more testing at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Hospital May 14, and will learn more about her treatment then.

Since her first election, Olson has been a steady and able councilmember, Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson said May 9.

“She has always put the good of the 40,000 people as her first thought,” Haakenson said. “She has always been very focused on what is best for the all of the citizens.”

Her 2007 reelection was unopposed, a rare occurrence in Edmonds, and one indicative of her popularity, he said.

Haakenson is anxious to keep Olson on council for as long as possible, he said.

“Clearly, we are empathetic to what is going on in her life. But her mind is fine,” Haakenson said. “We are thrilled to have her staying on the council.”

A January 2008 council resolution thanked Olson for her work as outgoing council president.

She worked “with grace, style and persistence,” the resolution said.

In addition to her work on the council and the South Snohomish Cities, Olson sits various boards including Edmonds’ Community Advisory Technology Committee, Long-Range Task Force, Seashore Transportation Forum, and the county’s Snohomish County Tomorrow (SCT).

Olson is planning to step down from SCT, because it has evening meetings in Everett. Driving will be too hard, she said.

Olson is married to Norm Olson, and has two stepdaughters in their 30’s and a granddaughter. Herself the oldest of four kids, Olson has a brother and two sisters.

She has an ambitious travel schedule in the upcoming months, and she hopes to see it all through.

She and her husband and their family are planning an Alaskan cruise in June. Some of her East Coast family is coming out this summer, and she and her sorority sisters from the University of Puget Sound are planning to attend Portland’s Rose Parade also in June.

She's going to fight the disease, she said.

“The hardest part is the loss of control,” she said. “I am going to be on this journey – we will see what happens.”

Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com