1924
Francis
2010
Mr. Francis C. Kolar
February 11, 1924 — January 9, 2010
Francis C. Kolar, 85, of Wolbach died Saturday, January 09, 2010 at the Howard County Medical Center in St. Paul.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Wolbach School Gymnasium. The Reverend Joseph Javorsky will officiate. Interment will be in the Hillside Cemetery in Wolbach. Military honors at graveside will be presented by the Ray Mapes American Legion Post #236 of Wolbach.
Visitation will be held on Tuesday, from 3:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Wolbach.
Jacobsen-Greenway Funeral Home of St. Paul is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Kolar was born February 11, 1924 on a farm southwest of Wolbach to Charles L. Kolar and Elsie Fredricka Christiana Rother.
Three children were born to this union, Francis, Robert and Cleo.
Francis was stricken with diphtheria in 1928 but managed by a miracle to pull through. He attended District 56 along Highway 281 through the 5th grade and then transferred to the Wagner School (District 23) to finish elementary school. He attended and graduated from Wolbach Public Schools in 1940.
He had taken a Normal Training Course in High School and tests which qualified him to teach right out of high school which he did through the 1940 and 1941 school year.
Francis attended Kearney State Teachers College for 2 years but due to Pearl Harbor he enlisted on Dec 1, 1942 and entered active duty in the United States Marine Corp July 1, 1943 in St. Peter, Minnesota. He served in Guam, China, and Korea during World War II and the Korean Conflict.
Francis returned to school, graduated in May of 1947 and was hired to teach math and coach at Bloomfield, NE until 1951. He then was called back to the Marines during the Korean conflict.
He was united in marriage to Rose Marie Merchen on May 24, 1951 in Bloomfield.
After his discharge on February 10, 1959, the couple moved to Grand Island where he worked as a timekeeper at the Cornhusker Ammunition Plant. In October, he accepted a job as a railway Transportation Clerk and they moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Francis and Rose Marie returned to the Wolbach area where they were engaged in farming, they helped with assessing for several years, organized a Fire District in 1957. Joined the School Board in 1958 and returned to teaching in 1962. He retired from teaching 1988 and from farming in 1989.
He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church of Wolbach where he sang in the church choir for 44 years, and was financial secretary for many years. He also was a 61 year member of the Ray Mapes American Legion Post #236 of Wolbach, was a school board member and served on the rural fire district for many years.
Survivors include his wife, Rose Marie of Wolbach; one son and daughter-in-law, Kerry and Brenda Kolar of Wolbach; two daughters and sons-in-law, Kathleen and Dick Wiechman of Lincoln and Kelley and Kevin Sok of Grand Island; 15 grandchildren; one great-grandchild and a daughter-in-law, Sally Kolar of Pilger.
He was preceded in death by his parents; a son Kevin; an infant brother, Cleo Kolar and a brother, Robert Kolar.
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