William "Bear" Thomas Kolb

William “Bear” Thomas Kolb passed away on May 16, 2021 in Rankin, Texas. Visitation will be 6 to 8 pm on Friday, May 21st at Johnson’s Funeral Home in San Angelo. Graveside services with military honors will be 10 am Saturday in the Christoval Cemetery in Christoval, Texas. In lieu of flowers please make a donation in Bear’s memory to the Wounded Warriors or the Disabled Veterans groups.

He was born May 20, 1949 in San Angelo, Texas to Mary Patricia Kolb and Jesse Thomas Kolb, Jr.

He is survived by his children, Chrystal Schilling and husband Jason Schilling of Garland, Texas and Brady Thomas Kolb and wife Nita Kolb of Midland, Texas and two grandchildren, Kristina Schilling and Anthony Thomas Kolb.

He was preceded in death by his father Jessie Kolb and his mother Mary “Pat” Carlucci Kolb.

Bear joined the Unites States Army prior to high school graduation and deployed to Vietnam from 1967-1970 as small arms mechanic with the 28th Infantry Division. He was stationed in Pleiku and Da Nang during his service in Vietnam. Upon returning to civilian life, he found gainful employment with El Paso Natural Gas as a plant operator and over his 19 year career with EPNG, he worked his way up to Instrument and Electrician Technician. The Midkiff gas plant was bought from ENPG by Western Gas Resources and Bear would continue the remainder of his career working as an I&E tech for whomever owned the plant. He retired from life as an I&E tech in 2019 as an employee of Targa, but then worked various other jobs through 2020, when he finally retired for good.

Bear married Paulene Kay Kolb in 1969 while home on leave from Vietnam. They were married 38 years and though divorced, still talked on a regular basis.

Bear enjoyed hunting, camping, tinkering with re-loading, working with his hands to build pretty much anything, relaxing on the couch with his dog, Zelda and of course riding his Harley all over the country. He made several trips to Sturgis and at least one to North Carolina and road the Hill Country of Texas whenever the weather was just right. He also made it a point to catch as many of his grandchildren’s activities as possible. He followed Anthony all over West Texas to watch him play his many sports. The time and place did not matter, he was going to make the trek.

Bear was a gruff-looking but approachable man and made friends anywhere and everywhere. He would sacrifice his time to lend his talents to anyone who needed help. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.