The Funeral Service for Kathy M. Kolb, age 48 of Meadow, will be held 1:00 pm Thursday, November 19, 2009 at the Bison School Gymnasium. Fr. Brian Fawcett and Pastor Mary Peterson will officiate and the cremains will be buried privately on the Kolb Ranch.

A Scriptural Prayer Service will be held at 7:00 pm on Wednesday evening at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Bison.

Special music will be provided by Todd and Tracy Buer and Margo Kronberg.

Serving as casketbearers are Morgan Kronberg, Kyle Kopren, Tharen Wolff, Daniel Chapman, Yancy Buer, and Lane Kopren as well as the Bison High School Freshman and Senior classes. All friends, neighbors, and relatives are considered honorary bearers.

KATHY MARIE NYGAARD was born August 8, 1961 at Bowman, ND to Leonard and LaVonne (Echternach) Nygaard. She grew up on the family ranch in Harding County, attended Lanesboro Country School, and graduated from Bowman High School in 1979. Throughout her school years, she was active in 4-H and FFA, developing a lifelong passion for showing cattle and horses. Kathy graduated from South Dakota State University in 1984 with a degree in Agriculture Extension. The highlight of Kathy's college days was being crowned Miss SDSU Rodeo in 1983 and being able to compete in the queen contest at the National College Finals Rodeo at Bozeman, MT.

She served her internship with the Extension Service in Lawrence County. Kathy then went to work at Gregorian Inc. in Lemmon. On June 6, 1986 she was united in marriage to Shane Kolb at St. Charles Catholic Church in Bowman. They made their home on the Kolb family ranch near Meadow, where Kathy worked side by side with Shane in the ranching operation. They also operated their own livestock ultra sound business, scanning cattle in the five state region.

Kathy worked for UPS for eleven years as a porter and delivery driver. Two sons, Justin and Wil were born, and Kathy decided to stay at home as a fulltime mom. To help supplement the ranch income, Kathy worked part time on road construction, as a farm hand and as a rural mail carrier. In 2007, she went to work at Dacotah Bank in Bison as a bookkeeper and teller.

She enjoyed attending her children's school activities, especially their sporting events, where she was noted for her photography skills. She was an active 4-H leader who enjoyed helping the kids with their projects and was also an active member of the Perkins County 4-H Rodeo Association. She was active in numerous agricultural organizations including the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, Western Organization of Resource Councils, R-CALF, Dakota Rural Action, Western Plains Action Group, and the Perkins County Livestock Improvement Association. Whether it was a school activity, within an organization or through 4-H, Kathy was there pitching in, encouraging others and giving of herself however she was needed.

In April of 2009, she was diagnosed with cancer. Kathy passed from this life on Wednesday evening, November 11, 2009 at the West River Regional Medical Center in Hettinger following a courageous battle with cancer.

Keeping her in their fondest memories are her husband, Shane; two sons, Justin and Wil, all of Meadow; her mother and father, Leonard and LaVonne Nygaard, Scranton, ND; two sisters, Nancy Teigen, (Gary Loder) Bowman, ND, Lori (Dean) Jenkins, Scranton, ND; one uncle, LaVoy Echternach; her mother-in-law, Pat Kolb, Bison, SD; and brother-in-law, Randy (Kathy) Kolb, Blaine, MN; nieces, Jasmin Teigen, Sierra Jenkins and Julie Kolb; nephews, Josh (Alfahanique) Teigen, Jory Teigen, Dalton Jenkins, Chris (Marne) Telkamp and Jeff Kolb; numerous cousins and a host of friends.

She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Lars and Nina Nygaard and Herb and Sadie Echternach; step grandmother, Hazel Nygaard; uncle and aunt, Verlyn and Jane Echternach; an aunt in infancy and her father-in-law, Ted Kolb.

Visitation will be Wednesday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon and from 5:30 to 7:00 at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Bison. Visitation will continue on Thursday from 11:00 to 1:00 pm at the Bison School Gymnasium.