SPEARFISH - Arnold A. Kolb, 83, passed away on April 27, 2011, in Alexandria, Va., while visiting his daughter for Easter.
He was born May 8, 1927, the fifth of nine children to Rudolf and Amelia Kolb, near Bison, at the Kolb Ranch, delivered by his father, Rudolf.
Arnold began learning to fly from his brother, Raymond, in 1945. In 1948 he entered into business as Vice President of the Lemmon Aircraft Co. In 1957 he sold his interest in that business and bought How-Kola Flying Service in Spearfish and established Black Hills Aviation.
He was involved in charter, air ambulance, student instruction, game census, corralling antelope, herding buffalo and wild horses, crop spraying, rides and tours for school children, scenic flights, aerial uranium detection and processing, forest patrol, aerial photography, cloud seeding and forest fire suppression with heavy aircraft, and flying doctors for medical missions to Mexico.
He has taken time for courtesy flights for civic, church and charitable causes. In 1972, when Interstate 90 went through the Black Hills Airport, he moved the business to Alamogordo, N.M.
The last B-17 he owned was given to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., when he upgraded his firefighting fleet to Lockheed P2V aircraft. He and his son, Nathan flew the airplane to Washington, D.C., for its presentation to the Smithsonian in 1984.
He had 24,000+ hours holding ASMEL and instrument ratings, instructor/inspector designations, type rating in B-17, L-P2V, FA-119c, CV-P4Y and CV-P411.
He was a certified aviation mechanic with inspection authorization. He built and maintained shops where he and his employees did minor and major repairs and major overhauls. Rebuilding World War II aircraft, he engineered many improvements and designed retardant tanks that were certified with improved coverage on forest fires.
He sold Black Hills Aviation air tanker business in 1993. Arnold was inducted into the "South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame," August 1999. He was named to Who's Who in American Aviation and received Rotary's Paul Harris Fellowship Award.
Because Arnold was never in the military, he sustained the costs of his training. He has often said, "I know there's money in aviation because I've put a lot of it there."
Survivors include his beloved wife of 63 years, Florence; four daughters, Maurita and Gene Autrey of Schertz, Texas, Pamela and Randy Parker of Alexandria, and Theone and GB Oliver III and Kimberly Mattson, all of La Luz, N.M.; six grandchildren, Sheryll Autrey and husband, Ken Farrell, Jean Pritchett and husband, Michael, Haley Parker, Nathan Parker, Summer Oliver, and GB Oliver IV and wife, Jamie; and four great-grandchildren, Nikolas Farrell, Kennedy Farrell, Sean Pritchett, and GB Oliver V.
His two sons, Sterling Arnold Kolb and Nathan Howard Kolb precede him in death.
Cremation has taken place with arrangements under the direction of the Jefferson Funeral Chapel in Alexandria.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. May 13 at Grace United Methodist Church in Alamogordo.
A second service will be at 10 a.m. May 31, at the United Methodist Church in Spearfish, with burial at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Spearfish.
Published in Rapid City Journal on May 4, 2011
He was born May 8, 1927, the fifth of nine children to Rudolf and Amelia Kolb, near Bison, at the Kolb Ranch, delivered by his father, Rudolf.
Arnold began learning to fly from his brother, Raymond, in 1945. In 1948 he entered into business as Vice President of the Lemmon Aircraft Co. In 1957 he sold his interest in that business and bought How-Kola Flying Service in Spearfish and established Black Hills Aviation.
He was involved in charter, air ambulance, student instruction, game census, corralling antelope, herding buffalo and wild horses, crop spraying, rides and tours for school children, scenic flights, aerial uranium detection and processing, forest patrol, aerial photography, cloud seeding and forest fire suppression with heavy aircraft, and flying doctors for medical missions to Mexico.
He has taken time for courtesy flights for civic, church and charitable causes. In 1972, when Interstate 90 went through the Black Hills Airport, he moved the business to Alamogordo, N.M.
The last B-17 he owned was given to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., when he upgraded his firefighting fleet to Lockheed P2V aircraft. He and his son, Nathan flew the airplane to Washington, D.C., for its presentation to the Smithsonian in 1984.
He had 24,000+ hours holding ASMEL and instrument ratings, instructor/inspector designations, type rating in B-17, L-P2V, FA-119c, CV-P4Y and CV-P411.
He was a certified aviation mechanic with inspection authorization. He built and maintained shops where he and his employees did minor and major repairs and major overhauls. Rebuilding World War II aircraft, he engineered many improvements and designed retardant tanks that were certified with improved coverage on forest fires.
He sold Black Hills Aviation air tanker business in 1993. Arnold was inducted into the "South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame," August 1999. He was named to Who's Who in American Aviation and received Rotary's Paul Harris Fellowship Award.
Because Arnold was never in the military, he sustained the costs of his training. He has often said, "I know there's money in aviation because I've put a lot of it there."
Survivors include his beloved wife of 63 years, Florence; four daughters, Maurita and Gene Autrey of Schertz, Texas, Pamela and Randy Parker of Alexandria, and Theone and GB Oliver III and Kimberly Mattson, all of La Luz, N.M.; six grandchildren, Sheryll Autrey and husband, Ken Farrell, Jean Pritchett and husband, Michael, Haley Parker, Nathan Parker, Summer Oliver, and GB Oliver IV and wife, Jamie; and four great-grandchildren, Nikolas Farrell, Kennedy Farrell, Sean Pritchett, and GB Oliver V.
His two sons, Sterling Arnold Kolb and Nathan Howard Kolb precede him in death.
Cremation has taken place with arrangements under the direction of the Jefferson Funeral Chapel in Alexandria.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. May 13 at Grace United Methodist Church in Alamogordo.
A second service will be at 10 a.m. May 31, at the United Methodist Church in Spearfish, with burial at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Spearfish.
Published in Rapid City Journal on May 4, 2011
SPEARFISH - Arnold A. Kolb, 83, passed away on April 27, 2011, in Alexandria, Va., while visiting his daughter for Easter.
He was born May 8, 1927, the fifth of nine children to Rudolf and Amelia Kolb, near Bison, at the Kolb Ranch, delivered by his father, Rudolf.
Arnold began learning to fly from his brother, Raymond, in 1945. In 1948 he entered into business as Vice President of the Lemmon Aircraft Co. In 1957 he sold his interest in that business and bought How-Kola Flying Service in Spearfish and established Black Hills Aviation.
He was involved in charter, air ambulance, student instruction, game census, corralling antelope, herding buffalo and wild horses, crop spraying, rides and tours for school children, scenic flights, aerial uranium detection and processing, forest patrol, aerial photography, cloud seeding and forest fire suppression with heavy aircraft, and flying doctors for medical missions to Mexico.
He has taken time for courtesy flights for civic, church and charitable causes. In 1972, when Interstate 90 went through the Black Hills Airport, he moved the business to Alamogordo, N.M.
The last B-17 he owned was given to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., when he upgraded his firefighting fleet to Lockheed P2V aircraft. He and his son, Nathan flew the airplane to Washington, D.C., for its presentation to the Smithsonian in 1984.
He had 24,000+ hours holding ASMEL and instrument ratings, instructor/inspector designations, type rating in B-17, L-P2V, FA-119c, CV-P4Y and CV-P411.
He was a certified aviation mechanic with inspection authorization. He built and maintained shops where he and his employees did minor and major repairs and major overhauls. Rebuilding World War II aircraft, he engineered many improvements and designed retardant tanks that were certified with improved coverage on forest fires.
He sold Black Hills Aviation air tanker business in 1993. Arnold was inducted into the "South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame," August 1999. He was named to Who's Who in American Aviation and received Rotary's Paul Harris Fellowship Award.
Because Arnold was never in the military, he sustained the costs of his training. He has often said, "I know there's money in aviation because I've put a lot of it there."
Survivors include his beloved wife of 63 years, Florence; four daughters, Maurita and Gene Autrey of Schertz, Texas, Pamela and Randy Parker of Alexandria, and Theone and GB Oliver III and Kimberly Mattson, all of La Luz, N.M.; six grandchildren, Sheryll Autrey and husband, Ken Farrell, Jean Pritchett and husband, Michael, Haley Parker, Nathan Parker, Summer Oliver, and GB Oliver IV and wife, Jamie; and four great-grandchildren, Nikolas Farrell, Kennedy Farrell, Sean Pritchett, and GB Oliver V.
His two sons, Sterling Arnold Kolb and Nathan Howard Kolb precede him in death.
Cremation has taken place with arrangements under the direction of the Jefferson Funeral Chapel in Alexandria.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. May 13 at Grace United Methodist Church in Alamogordo.
A second service will be at 10 a.m. May 31, at the United Methodist Church in Spearfish, with burial at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Spearfish.
Published in Rapid City Journal on May 4, 2011
He was born May 8, 1927, the fifth of nine children to Rudolf and Amelia Kolb, near Bison, at the Kolb Ranch, delivered by his father, Rudolf.
Arnold began learning to fly from his brother, Raymond, in 1945. In 1948 he entered into business as Vice President of the Lemmon Aircraft Co. In 1957 he sold his interest in that business and bought How-Kola Flying Service in Spearfish and established Black Hills Aviation.
He was involved in charter, air ambulance, student instruction, game census, corralling antelope, herding buffalo and wild horses, crop spraying, rides and tours for school children, scenic flights, aerial uranium detection and processing, forest patrol, aerial photography, cloud seeding and forest fire suppression with heavy aircraft, and flying doctors for medical missions to Mexico.
He has taken time for courtesy flights for civic, church and charitable causes. In 1972, when Interstate 90 went through the Black Hills Airport, he moved the business to Alamogordo, N.M.
The last B-17 he owned was given to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., when he upgraded his firefighting fleet to Lockheed P2V aircraft. He and his son, Nathan flew the airplane to Washington, D.C., for its presentation to the Smithsonian in 1984.
He had 24,000+ hours holding ASMEL and instrument ratings, instructor/inspector designations, type rating in B-17, L-P2V, FA-119c, CV-P4Y and CV-P411.
He was a certified aviation mechanic with inspection authorization. He built and maintained shops where he and his employees did minor and major repairs and major overhauls. Rebuilding World War II aircraft, he engineered many improvements and designed retardant tanks that were certified with improved coverage on forest fires.
He sold Black Hills Aviation air tanker business in 1993. Arnold was inducted into the "South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame," August 1999. He was named to Who's Who in American Aviation and received Rotary's Paul Harris Fellowship Award.
Because Arnold was never in the military, he sustained the costs of his training. He has often said, "I know there's money in aviation because I've put a lot of it there."
Survivors include his beloved wife of 63 years, Florence; four daughters, Maurita and Gene Autrey of Schertz, Texas, Pamela and Randy Parker of Alexandria, and Theone and GB Oliver III and Kimberly Mattson, all of La Luz, N.M.; six grandchildren, Sheryll Autrey and husband, Ken Farrell, Jean Pritchett and husband, Michael, Haley Parker, Nathan Parker, Summer Oliver, and GB Oliver IV and wife, Jamie; and four great-grandchildren, Nikolas Farrell, Kennedy Farrell, Sean Pritchett, and GB Oliver V.
His two sons, Sterling Arnold Kolb and Nathan Howard Kolb precede him in death.
Cremation has taken place with arrangements under the direction of the Jefferson Funeral Chapel in Alexandria.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. May 13 at Grace United Methodist Church in Alamogordo.
A second service will be at 10 a.m. May 31, at the United Methodist Church in Spearfish, with burial at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Spearfish.
Published in Rapid City Journal on May 4, 2011
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