Mary Jane Kobilan

Mary, or Janie as she preferred to be called, was born in Calhan, Colorado on December 16th, 1929, to Mary and Joseph Dzuris, on the farm that was homesteaded by her grandparents in the late 1800’s. Janie enjoyed living on the farm with her brothers and sisters and did her share to keep the farm running by doing farm chores, cooking, and cleaning for the family and farm hands. The farm years were marked by two tragic events. Janie’s mother Mary died April 14th, 1942, shortly after the birth of brother William. Two years later, on May 11th, 1944, Janie’s brother Edward was killed when he was struck by lightning while riding a horse. Janie often mentioned these two events as causing a drastic change in her life and thought things would be different if these two people had been around longer.

Janie went to grade school just down the road from the farm and attended high school in Calhan, but due to the need for her help on the farm, she never graduated. Janie married Andrew (Andy) Kobilan on June 15th, 1952, in Calhan Colorado. Janie and Andy moved to Colorado Springs and lived there for the remainder of their life together. Andy died on February 25th, 1975, after a short battle with cancer. Janie married Walt Ohler in 1978 and was married to Walt for five years.

Janie had various jobs as she lived in Colorado Springs. She worked for the Telephone Company, the Gazette Telegraph newspaper, Weum Chiropractic and Hewlett Packard. She retired from HP in 1994. After retirement, Janie spent her time cooking, cleaning, dancing, shopping, and couldn’t pass up a good garage sale. She had a new home built on her property northeast of Calhan where she remained until she was no longer able to live alone due to her dementia. Janie was a member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and the International Polka Club.

Janie is survived by her Daughter Cheryl Cannella of Calhan Colorado, her son Douglas (Kathryn) Kobilan of Lander Wyoming, her sister Edna Kosley of Colorado Springs along with other nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her grandchildren Tayla (Traynor) Whitehead, Marisa (Frank) Tolsma, Luke (Alison) Kobilan, Grace (Joey) Blake, Heather (Anthony) Just, Jessica Hayes, and Andrew Kobilan. Janie is also survived by 14 great grandchildren.

Janie is predeceased by her mother and father, Mary and Joseph Dzuris; her husband Andrew Kobilan, her second husband Walt Ohler, her sister Juli Kobilan, brothers Edward Dzuris, and William Dzuris and granddaughter Taryn (Cannella) Arnold. Janie lived a long and full life. She was very thankful for all of God’s blessings that she enjoyed in her life. She will be greatly missed.

A visitation for Janie will be held Friday, March 29, 2024 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Memorial Gardens Cemetery & Funeral Home, 3825 Airport Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80910.

The funeral service is Saturday, March 30, 2024 at 10:00AM, 3825 Airport Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80910.

A committal service to Janies final resting place will be at Memorial Gardens Cemetery following the funeral service.