Cloudy, 37° F
(July 11,1931 - July 4, 2016)
Fred Jacob “Jack” Randall Kolbe died July 4, 2016. He was 84.
Jack was born July 11, 1931, to Tecla and Fritz “Fred” Kolbe in Detroit, Michigan, and raised both in the city and up north on his Finnish/Swedish grandmother’s farm. His father immigrated from Germany to do tool and die work for Ford Motor Co.
Jack graduated from Cooley High School and then Princeton University. He joined the Army, served in the Korean War, and married his sweetheart, Alice Lunn.
After his military service, Jack earned a divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. His ordination was at First Presbyterian Church in Newberry, Michigan. He went on to serve in Michigan, Ohio and Wyoming.
When Jack retired, he moved to Cody where he enjoyed the outdoors and serving as interim pastor. In 1998, he married Nancy Zagelmeier and moved back to Michigan. After Nancy’s death in August of 2015, Jack returned to Cody to be near family, renew old friendships and make new ones. He loved reading, music, telling fish stories and writing sermons.
Jack was preceded in death by his sister, Gretchen, in the spring of 2016 and his parents Tecla and Fritz.
He is survived by his two children and their families, daughter Deborah, son-in-law Rick, and their children Landon and Leighton Blanchard; and son Mark, daughter-in-law Vicki, and their children Jonathon and Jessica Kolbe, many friends and fellow fishermen.
Services will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Cody at 3:30 p.m. Friday, July 15.
Memorials may be given to Spirit Mountain Hospice, Park County Library, the Senior Center, or a charity of choice. But most of all, Jack would ask that you “love one another!”
