In Memoriam Ole Dosland (1949-2019)

In each of his email signatures, Ole Dosland would write “Be Safe,” then impart a phrase of wisdom on quality assurance or food safety, an area to which he was dedicated for nearly 50 years. His final phrase of wisdom before undergoing open heart surgery, after which he planned to retire and “pursue a later stage of life, maybe without work,” was “Practical Solutions With A Long-Term Impact.”

It is an apt description for a man whose 13 years of bi-monthly Practical QA Solutions columns in QA magazine will be accessible on the Internet, providing “long-term impact,” long after his era of writing them has ended. And it is with sorrow that I write that that era ended November 7, 2019, when Ole passed away from complications following the surgery.

He graced QA readers with invaluable knowledge from his first column drawn from his “experiences as a hands-on food quality professional for many years along with my hands-off food protection experience as a food pest management professional,” to his last having “played to the final whistle, I am walking off this quality assurance and food safety course with pride” (page 5).

In his LinkedIn profile, Ole described his work as “Helping others better themselves and their operations by utilizing strengths of practical problem solving, dealing with people and independent accountability.” A graduate of Upper Iowa University (1971), Ole’s belief in the value of higher education of all forms was evidenced as he took to heart and lived his Calamus High School class motto of “Knowledge is Power, Gather it Now.” Ole began his career working in a variety of quality assurance positions at Ralston Purina. After having held quality assurance positions at IAMS Pet Foods and ConAgra Foods, he moved to Copesan Services (1997), where he became director of education and training. In this position he directed the administration of pest management technical and training with emphasis on Integrated Pest Management (IPM). He was also one of the charter founders and lead developer of Copesan University, a state-of-the-art online training center. In addition to his regular column in QA, Ole frequently shared his pest control knowledge with readers of QA’s sister publication, PCT.

Ole’s final words in QA were “Thank you for reading Practical QA Solutions and thank you for the memories.” Ole, we thank you for writing Practical QA Solutions and thank you for the memories.

Lisa Lupo, Editor She can be reached at llupo@gie.net.