New Pioneer Co-op icon dies at 53

There's a void behind register No. 1 in the New Pioneer Food Co-op's downtown Iowa City store.

After spending the last 16 years making local shoppers feel special by memorizing their member numbers, names and preferences for paper or plastic, beloved cashier Kevin Olish died unexpectedly Sunday.

“It didn't matter where you were coming from or your walk of life, he treated everyone the same,” said Jesse Koolbeck, senior shift supervisor for the co-op's Iowa City store. “He made you feel like you were home.”

Olish, 53, was a beloved part of the shopping experience for many co-op customers and colleagues, who admired his uncanny ability to remember hundreds of member numbers and his indomitable devotion to putting people and relationships above everything - including checkout speed.

“A lot of people would wait in his line just to have a chat with him - he was not in a hurry,” said Jenifer Angerer, marketing manager for the New Pioneer Co-op. “Kevin would remind us to slow down and put relationships first.”

As news of Olish's death spread through the Iowa City community on Sunday, friends and customers who had come to cherish their interactions with the popular co-op employee pulled together impromptu memorials on Facebook, on blogs and in the store itself.

“We have a little memorial set up,” Angerer said of a shelving case decorated with flowers and a photo where customers have been leaving memories on slips of paper. “He wasn't just a favorite of members. He was a favorite of the staff, too.”

Mick Roberts worked with Olish for seven years in the downtown location and said they became friends who spent plenty of nights after work indulging in their common passions.

“I got to know Kevin outside of work because of our mutual love of beer and heavy metal,” Roberts said. “He was a huge local music aficionado.”

Roberts said Olish called him Saturday night while at work and said he was having chest pain.

“I told him to hang up and call an ambulance, and he said he was already on his way to the hospital,” Roberts said. “I told him to ‘call me when you find out what's wrong,' and he died before I heard from him.”

Olish had been battling health issues for a while, according to Roberts, but so far it's unclear how he died. Roberts said he learned of Olish's passing Sunday through comments on Facebook, and it was hard to believe his friend was gone.

“It's tough,” Roberts said. “The co-op has been very supportive, but we're all really hurting.”

Many of the people who commented about Olish on his memorial Facebook page included their co-op member numbers - Roberts said Olish remembered about 300 of them using mnemonic devices.

“2113. I was at first taken aback and leery that Kevin knew my ‘number' but grew to appreciate his savant,” one woman wrote on Facebook.

“I am 7630, but of course, Kevin knew this, too,” another woman wrote. “Thank you, Kevin, for the lessons you taught all of us about connection and community.”

Maeve Clark, a frequent co-op shopper, said she initially was wary of Olish's keen memory and conversational style but eventually grew to appreciate his unique brand of customer service.

“There is a little bit of Kevin in all of us, and that's why people were so drawn to him,” he said. “He was a presence, that's for sure.”

The co-op is working with Olish's family to coordinate a memorial service to be held sometime in the spring, according to store officials.