Barbara Kolb
June 19, 1924 - September 9, 2020 Santa Clara
Barbara Kolb - June 19, 1924 – September 9, 2020. Santa Clara
Our beautiful, wonderful, funny and loving Mom has finally gone to heaven to dance with our dad, Bill, the love of her life, as he sings “Dream” softly in her ear.
Barbara Allen was born in Spokane Washington and grew up in Glendale and Oakland, California. A classic WWII love story; she met Bill Kolb, at a USO dance at Alameda Naval Air Station. A marriage proposal in a rowboat on Lake Merritt was followed by a wedding and honeymoon bus trip to the state capital, Sacramento. Thus began a marriage of 58 years, a family with ten children, and truly everlasting love.
Mom and Dad raised us with kindness, love, a sense of adventure, and lots of sports and laughter. She passed on her love of chocolate, the Giants, the neighborhood, burnt toast with butter, homemade chocolate frosting with graham crackers, See’s Candy and most of all her love for all of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and the many friends of her children that became adopted family members over the years.
Barbara’s life will be celebrated by her children, Mary Gilbert, Kathy Imwalle, Claudia Thomas, Peggy Aaron, Glenn Kolb, Amy Tucker, Pam Treder, Debbie Viloria, Suzy Andrade and Leslie Mccoy, her nine sons-in-law, daughter-in-law, fifteen grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren, countless nieces, nephews and several ‘honorary children’. She was preceded in death by her mother, Elizabeth Mcmahon Allen, her brothers, Ned and Mike, her sister, Pat, and her beloved husband, Bill.
Mom supported each of our personal endeavors and was an active parent volunteer with the Santa Clara Swim Club throughout the 1960s and ‘70s and the Santa Clara Junior Theater through the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Throughout her 96-years, Barbara Kolb was ever-curious. An avid reader, in addition to countless novels, she read the newspaper ritually every morning to stay informed and active in her community, country, and the world. Mom donated to a variety of charities to protect children, Native Americans, endangered animals, and the environment, as well as to support Special Olympics, cancer research, and political candidates.
Growing up, Mom was an amazing role model of civic responsibility as she worked on local, state, congressional, and presidential campaigns. Her deep compassion for others persisted and her greatest present hope was to vote on November 3rd to restore honor and decency to the White House by casting her vote for Joe Biden in the presidential election. Here, we give voice to the vote she was unable to cast.
The Kolb Family would like to express our deep gratitude to the Kaiser physicians and Home Health nurses and aides for the wonderful care they provided for our Mom.
So raise your margarita, Oreo, piece of See’s candy, drumstick (the ice cream kind) or piece of toast, sing a rousing chorus of Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and cheers to her wonderful 96 years and the fabulous life she has shared with us all. We will miss you Mommy. Thanks for all your love!
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Siskiyou County Special Olympics – P.O. Box 545, Weed, CA 96094; the Giants Community Fund - https:// www.mlb.com/giants/community/fund; or Second Harvest Food - https://give.shfb.org/ donatenowbank.
More importantly, VOTE!