Viola Colby

Viola Krahn was born July 11, 1924 in the farming community of Mt. Lake, Minnesota. She was the oldest of 5 with 4 brothers. She was brought up in the Mennonite faith where movies and dancing were frowned upon and in church, the men sat on one side and the women on the other. She spoke German until she went to school. Finally as a teenager, she and a girlfriend went to their first movie, Gone with the Wind and she fell in love with Clark Gable like many girls her age. She was often sent to a relatives’ home to help with household chores, help in the fields picking onions and milking cows. Being taught that children were to be seen and not heard, she was quiet-a trait that would disappear as she became an adult. She played clarinet in the school marching band and developed many close friendships which would last throughout her life. Helping family and friends became her mantra. She also worked in the town’s general store. Years later when visiting the open air town museum, the Heritage Center, she walked into the general store and saw a picture of herself with the other store employees and exclaimed-“Oh no, I’m an antique!” After WWII, she met the love of her life, Walter while working in a department store in Minneapolis and they were married Jan. 26, 1947, a marriage that would last more than 71 years. Soon a family was started with daughter, Diane and son, Michael and Viola became a homemaker, an expert at baking bread and started the annual Christmas cookie tradition. She enlisted the help of her daughter and over the years, many of Diane’s friends as the cookie count often reached 4000 per season. Cookies were given to friends, family and even her doctors, dentists and insurance brokers-now also her good friends. To help with family expenses, she took in ironing and cleaned houses for a group of “her ladies”, who also became her best friends. She volunteered at Mizpah Congregational Church and joined bowling and golf leagues with other lady friends and couples leagues with Walter. Early in her marriage, she began her hobby of sending birthday cards to family and friends which she continued until her passing with her list growing to over 300 people. It was always amazing that your card arrived precisely on your special day always with a personal note. To Viola, once she met you, you were one of her best friends for life. She also started compiling genealogies of the families, keeping track of births, deaths and marriages-and adding newcomers to the birthday list. Viola also volunteered as a Girl Scout leader for Diane’s troop. taking part with exuberance in each activity. When the troop was earning its roller skating badge, Viola was right there with them-until she broke her arm trying to skate backwards. She had to call someone to drive the girls home before going to the doctor for the cast. Because Walter was very smart, Viola always thought she wasn’t, confusing knowledge with wisdom. She had a practical wisdom that cut to the core of things and the will to control most situations. When Mike and Diane were in grade school, they were accused of an incident on their way to school. Since they didn’t even walk on the street where the incident took place, Viola went to the principal and chewed her out for not getting the facts straight. Viola also worked in the school kitchen and one day a boy sitting next to Mike said “Boy, it sure is hard to steal milk from that grey haired old lady!”. Mike said-“that’s my mom!” That night when Mike told her about it, she laughed and after that would kid the boy, but semi-sternly tell him not to steal milk from her and they all got along great. As an adult, the boy became a mayor in a small town in Iowa. She also loved motorcycles and was always asking anyone who was visiting who had one to give her a ride. After moving to Colorado, Viola and Walter became very active with their VFW Post, serving as officers and volunteering at the club’s Friday Bingo fundraisers until the age of 91. Viola loved the visits to see family in Minnesota and getting caught up with each person’s life or talking on the phone for an hour to hear what each person was up to. She lived life fully and actively whether it was helping others or trying new experiences. Viola was always interested in each person she met, had a smile for everyone and cared so deeply about each one of you. Now, she is happily watching over you with her beloved Walter by her side.