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Madison is the heart and soul of Eric and Jennifer Olafsson’s life. Not only is it where Jen grew up and helped in her family’s business, Klinke Cleaners, but where Eric was an undergrad and medical
student at UW, and where they met at the Great Dane pub in 1998 (and still frequent). Decades later, their children heard the calling of the city their parents came to love, and all three kids reside there
now, even though their parents are here . Jen is the outlier of the family and did not attend a Madison-area university, instead opting to get out of Dodge and complete her degree in English at Valparaiso, as well as minors in business and economics. Those credentials along with attending the International Fabricare Institute drycleaning school allowed her to wear a lot of hats in the family business post-college, from HR to marketing to pressing shirts. Wausau is where Eric grew up and his parents still reside. After completing his medical degree in 1999, Eric tacked on another six years of education to complete his residency in Madison and fellowship in Indianapolis before taking his current position as a pulmonologist at Froedtert West Bend. With that job, the couple and their two little ones moved to Washington County in 2005 and were members of Trinity Lutheran in West Bend before they moved to their current home in the Town of Polk in 2012 and became members of St. John’s Higher learning is the reason all of their children are in Madison. Megan (23) graduated from UW in May 2025 and is currently working in the city while she awaits med school this fall {location and specialty TBD). Jon (21) attends Edgewood University, majoring in accounting and has a remote internship at a mortgage company in Brookfield. And Rachel (19) is enjoying being a freshman at UW, majoring in microbiology. Jen and Eric both like to travel. The family took a trip to Germany in 2024, and the parents going it solo hope to spend a lot of time in Florida, where Eric can while away warm days on a golf course and Jen can soak up the sun with a good book.

Fun Facts:
• Eric and Jen don’t need an anniversary reminder in their calendars–it’s pretty easy to remember: they were married five days after 9/11
• Love, love, love this sport!: Eric enjoys playing tennis, and both Jon and Rachel started playing very young, excelled on the Slinger High School teams, and worked at Pleasant Valley Tennis and Fitness Club, plus Jon has even extended his play to the university team.

The couple is still getting used to being empty nesters, but family canine Piper, who’s not a Great Dane, keeps their spirits up until they can get to the Great Dane again (and see their kids) Time to tell one more thing: Jen helps out at Douglas Jewelers in Hartford, where they replace an average of 3,500 watch batteries a year!