John K. Kolden, 73, Garrison, died on Tuesday, May 3, 2016 at the Garrison Hospital. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday at 1:00 pm at Peace Lutheran Church in Garrison. Burial will be at the Garrison City Cemetery.

Visitation will be held on Monday from 3 to 7 at Thompson Funeral Home in Garrison.

John K. Kolden was born on the family farm on May 29, 1942 near Roseglen, ND. He was the youngest child born to John Kolden Sr. ad Bertrice Kurtz. John, ("Johnny" as most friends and family call him), grew up on the family farm and went to a country school a few miles away. He later attended and graduated from White Shield High School.

John married Dorothy Rose Engel in 1964. He went to work for the Bureau of Reclamation until 1976, doing inspections on the Snake creek Pumping Plant, and McClusky Canal. He also worked construction for a number of years. He also drove bus for the Garrison School District for several years.

Slowly, Johnny added to his cattle operation. He continued farming and ranching on the home farm near Roseglen. He began raising Angus cattle in 1964. He also had small grain farmland, as well as hay land and pastures. For a few years he pastured on the Ft. Berthold Indian Reservation south of White Shield.

Johnny and Dorothy raised two boys, Darren, born in 1965, and Delvin, born in 1966. They bought a house in Garrison where Dorothy worked and every day, Johnny drove out to the farm. He continued to do this until 3 years ago when his health started giving him trouble. Johnny and Dorothy were members of Peace Lutheran Church in Garrison.
Johnny has always been a true "cowboy". He had a humble, gentle spirit. He was always a person who has truly taken care of the land and the animals around him. He had a quiet personality, but he had many good, friends who have helped him, and he in turn helped them.
Johnny always had a wonderment about what life was like in the cattle-drive days. He had an old soul, and out of his curiosity had come a very amazing collection and recollection of memories. He tried very hard to recapture a little of this history and preserve it. Among his treasures, many old saddles that he rescued. He restored them when he had to, just to preserve them. He usually stitched them by hand so that they would remain as authentic as possible. He also restored bridles, did rope braiding, and was in the process of restoring an old wagon.

Johnny's knowledge of cowboy history is second to none. He had a vast collection of cowboy novels and history of the wagon trails, Badlands, and Teddy Roosevelt. He was also very interested in the history of brands, and the movement of cattle from Texas to the Dakota Territory. He was a 3rd generation rancher whose family homesteaded here in the late 1800's. He loved the "vintage cowboy ways", and when asked why, he would simply say, "It's in my blood." Johnny's loves were his family, (Little Lincoln), Ranch, and his border collies, Buddy, Bear, Buck, and Belle Star.

John is survived by his wife of 52 years, Dorothy, sons, Darren (Denise) and Delvin Kolden; grandsons, Christopher (Kelsey) and Craig (Katie) Kolden; darling little great grandson, Lincoln Jones Kolden, all of Garrison; sisters, Marsha (Walter) Klindworth, Garrison, and Loretta Peterson, SD; sisters-in-law, Fay Schafer and Florence Schafer, both of SD; cousin, Sylvia Peterson; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters and brothers-in-law, Dorothy (Ferd) Walsky, Marian (Peter) Melgard, brothers, Edmund and Delmont Schafer, brother-in-law, Donald Peterson, Donna Harmon (Glen Albers), special friend, Bernie Pfliger, as well as many other friends, and father and mother-in-law, Christ and Lydia Engel.