Longtime local dies in car crash

Oliver Crose, a longtime resident and business owner in Truckee, died Saturday when the Chevy TrailBlazer he was driving rolled over on state Route 89 about 11 miles north of Truckee.Crose, 70, was headed to his home in Sierraville when he swerved across both lanes of traffic twice before his vehicle flipped and struck three trees, according to California Highway Patrol reports. Crose was the only person in the car and no other vehicles were involved in the accident, according to the CHP. Officials are still investigating the cause of the accident.Crose was the owner of several gas stations in Truckee, including Pat and Ollie’s near Tahoe Forest Hospital and Pat and Ollie’s Too in downtown Truckee. He came to Truckee in the early 1950s and was involved in the community as president of the airport board, a volunteer fireman and a Mason, his wife, Heather Crose, said.Those that knew Crose remember him as a kind and caring man who was good to the people around him.”Ollie knew everybody,” said Ken Osburn, who went to Sierra College with Crose in the 1960s. “… he was a very kind man.”Oliver Crose moved from Truckee to Sierraville in 1994 and became part owner of the Sierraville Superstop, owner of the Sierraville Motel and RV Park and the town’s pizzeria. The natural beauty and peacefulness in the high alpine valley is what drew him to semi-retire in the small town, said Heather Crose.In the approximately 40 years Oliver Crose lived in Truckee, he became well-known and well-liked throughout the community, said those who knew him.”Ollie was one of the oldtimers in downtown Truckee,” said Heather Crose.Shireen Stemen, Crose’s stepdaughter, said her stepfather will be remembered for his kindness.”Every single person that mentioned Ollie, and the sorrow they have in losing him, say that he was the nicest man,” Stemen said. For information on memorial and funeral services for Oliver Crose, see page A5.