Pauline Florence Kolar

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, 2018 at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in St. Cloud for Pauline Florence Kolar, age 91, of St. Cloud.  Pauline passed away peacefully on April 21 at the Quiet Oaks Hospice House surrounded by her family.  Father LeRoy Scheierl will officiate. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the church and a luncheon will follow after services.  Burial will take place in the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery near Little Falls at a later date. 

Pauline was born on August 4, 1926 in Elcor, MN.  She was the first of seven children of Mary (Reitz) and Paul Prich.  She grew up in Calumet, MN.  After graduating from high school, she moved to the Twin Cities to earn an Associate’s Degree in Business while working as a nanny.  She worked at the U.S. Airforce Base in Dayton, OH as a keypunch operator, then moved to Florida for a short while.  Upon returning home to Calumet, she met Joe Kolar.  They were married on September 8, 1951 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Marble, MN.

Pauline was the Vice President (and part owner) of the Calumet State Bank, working alongside her husband Joe, President (part owner). They relocated to Brooklyn Center in 1972 after selling the bank; Pauline worked at Northwestern Bell.  In 1978, they moved to North Branch, MN and she was employed at Chisago Medical Center.  Pauline and Joe retired in 1988 and moved to St. Cloud.  Always one to stay active, Pauline went to work at Macy’s until retiring at age 89.

Pauline was always ahead of her time.  Most important to her was her faith, family, and friends. She was a lover of music and dancing, entertaining, cooking and shopping.  She had an independent spirit and was able to make the most mundane tasks fun- dance while cleaning, making donuts and often thwacking her kids with the dough, or squirting them with the sprayer while doing dishes. Loved. Solid. Respected. Stylish. Determined. Exuberant. Generous.

Pauline is survived by her children James (Pam) Kolar, Pegg A.K. Gustafson (Rick Heilman) and Patrick (Kathi) Kolar, grandchildren: Scott (Monica) Kolar, Chad (Kate) Kolar, Carl (Becky Seibel) Gustafson, Marc Gustafson, Aaron (Amber) Thompson, Amy (Matt) Stein, Jessica (Jon) Harvey and Adam Kolar; great grandchildren Joseph and Kate Kolar, Elliot and Lance Thompson, Liam and Marek Gustafson, Waylon Harvey and Mason Stein, and her sister MaryEllen Prich Otten.

Preceding Pauline in death were her husband, Joseph; parents; daughter, Nancy Thompson; and siblings, Nicholas, Steve, Julia, Violet and Paul, Jr.

A special thank you to the staff at Quiet Oaks and the St. Cloud Hospital.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Quiet Oaks Hospice House.