J.B. Kolar

    J.B. Kolar passed away Jan. 9, 2018, at the age of 91. He was born in Fort Bend County, Texas on June 25, 1926, to John and Annie Kolar. With his family, J.B. moved to LaSalle (then Bennview) when he was a baby, attended school in LaSalle, lived in Vanderbilt for a short while with his wife and baby son, and then returned to LaSalle where he lived his life until he became a resident at Southbrooke Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Edna.     J.B. was a farmer, served in the Army at the end of World War II, worked on oil rigs, and worked for Alcoa for 29 years before retiring in 1986. He married Virginia Ricketts Smith on June 16, 1949. They had two children – Jerome and Deanna. J.B. enjoyed fishing and playing dominoes, and was a member of the Vanderbilt Presbyterian church where he served as an elder for many years. He was also a member of SPJST, a Czech fraternal organization. Last year, he received a 75-year membership pen. J.B. and Virginia took several bus tours over the years, seeing just about every state except Hawaii and Alaska.     J.B. is preceded in death by his parents, wife of 68 years Virginia Kolar, brothers Eugene Kolar and Calvin Kolar, sister Dorothy Mowrey, and brother-in-laws Bill Short and Walter Mowrey.     J.B. is survived by his son Jerome Donald Kolar, daughter Deanna Kolar Warner, daughter-in-law Linda Wofford Kolar, son-in-law Marc Warner, grandchildren Christopher Kolar (wife Melissa), Chastity Kolar, and Brad Martin (fiancé Leigh McKitrick), two great-grandchildren Waverly Kolar and Keiland Kolar, sister Leona Short, sister-in-laws Ruth Kolar and JoAnn Tullis, and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.       Things that we will remember about our father and grandfather – his interest in weather and concern for hurricanes, his feeding of hundreds of hummingbirds, his dry sense of humor like telling his grandson that J.B. stood for June Bug and teaching his grandkids how to snap a towel (usually on their bottoms), his enjoyment of fishing – especially for red fish, and his skill at dominoes. And, we will always remember that J.B.’s idea of organic gardening was to use coffee grounds and Sevin Dust!     A graveside service was held at the LaSalle cemetery.