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Keith Kolb Obituary
Keith Robert Kolb was born on February 9, 1922 to Percy F. and Josephine Kolb of Billings, MT. Growing up, he traveled around Montana, playing drums with his high school marching band. He planned on a music career, but when he enrolled at the University of Washington, he switched to architecture and never looked back. Kolb's UW education was interrupted by his courageous service in World War II, where he served the 104th Infantry Division as an advance scout on the front lines in Belgium and Germany. While at war, he managed to produce a number of skillful watercolors. A prote;ge; of the celebrated architect, watercolorist and UW professor, Lionel Pries, Kolb obtained his Bachelor's Degree in architecture in 1947, the same year he married Jacqueline C. Jump of Helena, MT. They were loving partners in marriage for 65 years, until Jacqueline Kolb's death in 2012.
After teaching architecture at Montana State University, Kolb obtained a masters in architecture from Harvard in 1950, where he studied under Walter Gropius, famed head of the Bauhaus School of Design. Kolb returned to Seattle in 1952, where he taught architecture at the UW from 1952 -1990 and practiced architecture at the firm of Decker, Kolb and Stansfield (later Kolb and Stansfield.) The Puget Sound Blood Center is among the many medical and institutional buildings he designed. Kolb became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1981 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award for teaching from the UW College of Built Environments in 2018.
Kolb passed away peacefully at home on January 24, 2019. He is survived by his sons Brooks Kolb and Bliss Kolb of Seattle, Brooks' husband, Dennis Mullings, and Bliss's partner, Susanna Burney, not to mention the large number of former students who honor and admire him.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the UW Foundation, listing either the "Libraries Historical Architectural Drawings Fund" or "The CBE Library" on the subject line.
A celebration of Keith Kolb's life will be held on Sunday, February 17. Please contact Brooks Kolb for details: [email protected].'
Sign Keith's online Guest Book: www.Legacy.com
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
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