17,191 sewing machine repairs later, Lamar's still at it, will retire from store

A need to supplement his living as a farmer is how Lamar Olsen got into repairing typewriters and calculators from his Porthill home in 1965.

Olsen later diversified, repairing sewing machines and computers and opening Lamar’s office and craft supply store in downtown Bonners Ferry. Forty-four years and 17,191 sewing machine repairs later, the 74-year-old is retiring from the store, but will continue to repair sewing machines part time from his Three Mile area home.

“There’s so many projects at home and I’m getting behind,” Olsen said about his reasons for leaving the store.

He’s not ready to give up repairing sewing machines, and by working in his shop at home, Olsen plans to make machine parts that are no longer manufactured.

“I like machines to do what they’re supposed to do — what they were designed to do,” Olsen said.

Store manager Lori Mason will continue to manage the store, which Olsen doesn’t plan to sell.

“I haven’t listed it, but I’m not opposed to talking about it,” he said.

A lifelong Boundary County resident, Olsen grew up on a farm, where he learned all about making repairs to machinery and gained a mechanical aptitude.

He began raising his own family on a beef and crop farm, but as the economy worsened and his family grew, things got tough. So the father of four went to school in Klamath Falls, Ore., to learn typewriter and calculator repair and opened a home business.

In 1972, a friend who moved to Seattle for health reasons and had sold Swiss-made Bernina  sewing machines in Bonners Ferry asked Olsen if he would repair machines sold to residents. Olsen took a three-hour course at a Bernina distributor in Salt Lake City, the start of what became a career.

Olsen relocated his repair business to downtown Bonners Ferry in 1972 and added computer sales and repair. He also taught computer classes.

In 1986, Olsen moved the business to his current location. He added office and craft supplies.

At about the same time, Olsen also moved his family to the Three Mile area.

Olsen continued repairing computers and sewing machines, but made sewing machines his focus. He fixes all brands and like Bernina the best.

“It’s not because I’m a Bernina dealer, but mechanically they have consistently been the best,” Olsen said.

Oslen and his wife, Dorothy, have been married for 46 years. They are the parents of Dorian Olsen, 45, of Centerville, Utah; Marlin Olsen, 42, of Bonners Ferry; DawnEtta Thompson, 38, of Priest River; and Mark Olsen, 34, of Post Falls. The couple also has 13 grandchildren.