Gary Kolstad, 
age 70, of Mentor, MN, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 11th, at his home with his family by his side. Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17th, at Faith Lutheran Church in Mentor with the Rev. Michael Sletto officiating. Family will greet friends for one hour prior to the service on Tuesday at the church. Military honors will be provided by the National Guard Honors Team. Arrangements are with Carlin Family Funeral Service of Erskine and messages of condolence may be shared at www.carlinfuneral.com.
Gary A. Kolstad was born on September 24, 1949, in Grand Forks, North Dakota to parents Martin and Evelyn (Marberg) Kolstad. He lived with his family in the Reynolds, North Dakota area until 1956 when they moved to Erskine. He attended school in Erskine and graduated from Erskine High School in 1967. Following high school, Gary attended the University of Minnesota Crookston and Moorhead State University.
Gary was united in marriage to Valerie Jean Quant on August 15, 1970. Shortly after their marriage, he entered the United States Army on September 4, 1970. He was stationed in Oklahoma and then Fargo as a trained medic. While in the Army, Gary also obtained upholstery training in Wahpeton State School of Science. He received his honorable discharge on June 6, 1973, and shortly thereafter moved to Mentor, MN.
Gary did upholstery on cars and furniture and especially liked working on classic cars and also did carpentry work around the area. He then started working for MNDOT, retiring after 30 years of service. His work on classic cars continued after his retirement as a much-loved hobby.
He was a member of Faith Lutheran Church and was a faithful member of the Mentor Fire Department for 14 years. He was the founding member of the “Old Coots” club where he and his buddies would impress each other with their copious amount of wisdom. He enjoyed hunting and ice fishing trips with lifelong friends and family. Most of all, Gary will be remembered as an amazing husband, Dad, brother, uncle and especially as the best Grandpa to his granddaughter “his darlin’ sweetheart” Paige and his grandsons Riley, Nick and Emmett and his forever 4-legged friend Zoey, that were his world. He will be dearly missed.
Survivors include his loving and bossy wife of 49 years, Val of Mentor; two daughters, Sheila Norring of Glyndon, MN and Kylie Kolstad of Fargo, ND; four grandchildren, Riley of Mankato, MN, Nicholas of Moorhead, MN and Paige and Emmett, both of Fargo, ND.
Gary is also survived by one sister, Ilayne Potucek of Warren, MN and four brothers: Wayne (Lois) of Grand Forks, ND, Merle (Rosie) of Erskine, Calvin of Erskine, and Dale (Suzi) of Pennsylvania and many loving nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, nephew Chad Kolstad, brother-in-law Jack Potucek, and sister-in-law Sherilyn Kolstad.
PLEASE NOTE: PER THE REQUEST OF THE FAMILY, WE ASK THAT ANYONE WITH COMPROMISED HEALTH OR CURRENT SYMPTOMS PLEASE KNOW THAT WE WOULD ASK YOU TO REFRAIN FROM ATTENDING THE SERVICE AS WE WANT EVERYONE TO REMAIN IN OPTIMAL HEALTH.
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