Dorothy Kolarik, Beloit
August 5, 1925 - April 8, 2021
Dorothy Ann Engelbert Kolarik was born on August 5, 1928 on her parent’s farm north of Beloit, KS to Louis Engelbert and Elizabeth Bailey Engelbert. She departed this life on April 8, 2021 in her home where she lived her entire life. She attended St. John’s Catholic schools and graduated in 1946. On November 25, 1948 she married John F. Kolarik and they made their home on the family farm. They enjoyed 61 wonderful years together. To this union three daughters were born.
After high school graduation she went to work at the office of the Register of Deeds from 1946 to 1950. In 1957 she went to work for SRS (welfare office) and left there in 1980 to go to work for Gourley Ford Motor Company where she worked until she retired in 1985.
Dorothy began sewing at an early age making doll clothes on a Singer treadle sewing machine. She loved making clothes for herself, her daughters, her husband John, all of her grandsons and frilly dresses for all of her granddaughters. She made all three of her daughters’ wedding dresses, the bridesmaids' dresses, and her dress for each of the weddings. There wasn’t anything she couldn’t sew. She also loved to crochet, knit, and embroidery and when the girls were little she made and knitted a lot of doll clothes.
After she retired, she started sewing and embroidering quilt tops and hand quilting them. She was a member of the St. John’s Quilters. She made over 100 quilts and has given most of them away to family members, auctions, and raffles. One of her butterfly quilts brought $2,500 at the St. John’s School Auction in Beloit. She was a featured quilter for the 2016 Piecemakers’ annual quilt show at the Miltonvale Tootlefest.
Dorothy was a member of St. John’s Catholic Church where she was involved in the Ladies Guild. She was also a member of the VFW Auxiliary and the American Legion Auxiliary.
After John retired, they enjoyed traveling around the United States and saw all but four of the fifty states. They also spent a week every year at Branson, MO, where they enjoyed the shows and attractions. Dorothy and John loved to dance and were members of the Waconda Swingin’ Squares Square Dance Club until they disbanded. Then they started attending the Jolly Mixers in Salina on Wednesday nights.
In 2011 Dorothy suffered a stroke which affected her hand and leg but she did not let it get her down. She received therapy where she was motivated to work hard so she could get back to her sewing and quilting. The therapy department was so impressed with her progress and motivation that they made an infomercial highlighting her rapid recovery.
Preceding her in death was her husband John of 61 years, her parents, her brother Francis Engelbert, and a beloved granddaughter Jennifer Gelnar.
She will be deeply missed by her three daughters, Kathleen Gelnar and husband Roy of Granite, Oklahoma, Deborah Halepeska and husband Brent of Miltonvale, Kansas, and Patricia Downing of Bennington, Kansas; eight grandchildren, Danielle (Gelnar) Roberts, Jacqueline (Gelnar) Grimes, Pamela (Gelnar) Esparza, Matthew Gelnar, Nathan Halepeska, Megan (Halepeska) Grams, Jacob Downing, and Rebecca Downing; and thirteen great-grandchildren, Macy Roberts, Ava, Aubrey, and Addilyn Grimes, Gavin, Gwendolyn, Dalton, and Chloe Esparza, Brianna and Henry Gelnar, Eli, Seth, and Levi Grams and many other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Monday, April 12 at the St. John's Catholic Church. Visitation will be from 1-3 p.m. Sunday at the Roberts Family Funeral Home, and a rosary service will be at 5 p.m. Sunday at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Cornerstone Foundation, St. John's Memorial Trust Fund, Solomon Valley Hospice, or Hilltop Lodge.
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