Katherine "Honey" Mary (McNally) Kolbus

Wetmore

Katherine Mary “Honey” Kolbus, age 84, of Wetmore, died unexpectedly, at Munising Memorial Hospital on Friday, July 31, 2020.  She was born in Munising on December 4, 1935, the eleventh of twelve children to the late Thomas and Inez (Carr) McNally.  Katherine graduated from Wm. G. Mather High School in 1954.  Through school she was active in Glee Club, 4-H, and was Class Secretary.  After school she worked on Grand Island at the Mather Lodge cleaning rooms and mastering the perfect hospital corner.  Honey then worked at the Munising Paper Mill for a couple of years as a secretary and then in the bakery at Hub’s Super Valu before beginning her employment at CCI which became Timber Products.   She worked there for over twenty-five years and retired as a veneer inspector.  Katherine married Walter “Vog” Kolbus on June 29, 1957.  She loved to entertain and was a talented and modest cook, always knowing just the right thing to add to make the meal complete.  Katherine enjoyed working on her plants and gardens, picking berries, and still would use a push mower to cut her grass.  She was highly active and hardworking, and volunteered at the food pantry, Mustang Booster Club, and Tribal Center, advocating for local Alzheimer’s group, and visiting the residents at Tendercare­­­­­­­­­­­.  Honey was proud of her Native American heritage and was an Elder of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe.  She was also a devout and faithful member of Sacred Heart Church.  In her later years, she really enjoyed traveling:  Honey would get lucky in the casinos in Las Vegas, catch, can, and smoke fish from the Kuskokwim River in Alaska, visited Mt. McKinley, flew in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon, hiked in the Smokey Mountains, climbed Superstition Mountains in Arizona, went to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Colorado, and San Antonio to name a few.  Honey loved her family, she cherished all the time she could spend with her children, grandchildren, and Vog.

She is survived by her husband of sixty-three years - Walter “Vog” Kolbus of Wetmore; children – Kim Kolbus of Escanaba, Melinda “Mendy” Kolbus of Rapid River, Robin (Joanna) Kolbus of Bethel, AK, Kevin (Danielle) Kolbus of Christmas, Karin (Paul) Gollinger of Munising, and Kristi (John) Lambert of Mt. Pleasant, WI; grandchildren – William Balko, Mark Kolbus, Cheryl (Brandon) Mason, Alyssa and Rianna Brothers, Hayden Bayer, and Megan and Gavin Lambert; great-grandchildren – Sierra, Dimetri, Phoenix, and Sarah; sister - Marilyn “Tenni” Milatovich; sister-in-law – Cece Walkiewicz; and numerous nieces and nephews.  Katherine was preceded in death by her parents – Tom and Inez; son – Mark Kolbus; and siblings – Thomas, Jr., Clifford “Kip”, Isabelle “Lolly”, Wayne, Dorothy “Dort”, Raymond, Margaret “Muggs”, John, Marion “Biggs”, and Darlene “Dar”.

Fr. Michal Ocran will celebrate a Memorial Mass for Katherine on Saturday, August 8, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church.  Interment will follow at Maple Grove Cemetery.

The Diocese of Marquette requires that mask and family unit social distance rules are to be followed at the church.