Clear and Breezy, 60° F
(May 7, 1920 - March 14, 2016)
Longtime Big Horn Basin resident William “Bill” Leroy Kolacny died March 14, 2016, at the Beartooth Billings Clinic, surrounded by his loving family. He was 95.
He was born in Goodland, Kansas, on May 7, 1920, to Joseph Kolacny and Lulu Peterson. The family later relocated to the Big Horn Basin.
Bill established a home south of Billings, where he became a square dance caller. He met Beverly at one of the dances. Their early years of marriage were spent on ranches in southwestern Montana. In the early ’60s their firstborn son, Bret, came into their lives, followed a few years later by Bart. The family was joined by three children from Bev’s previous marriage, Terry, Jim, and Ellen. Daughter Jo Ann was born a few years later.
The family lived around the Big Horn Basin, where Bill went to work first for Powell Bean and later for E. H. Walrath and Sons Elevator, where he was well-liked and known to his workmates and area farmers as “Digger.”
In the late 1960s the family settled into a grand but long empty house on Lane 10 west of Powell and patiently restored it over many years.
Bill was an amazing artist and he became widely known for his fanciful metal creations fashioned out of old horseshoes, railroad spikes, discarded nuts and bolts, which were called Willie’s Wild Ones and were purchased by people all over the nation.
Bill and Bev spent many happy years in the greater Clark community and made many lasting friends there. Bill was a friend to wild creatures of all kinds, once had a pet raccoon, and fed seeds to the wild birds on the ranch south of Clark. He was preceded in death by a son, Bret, his parents and siblings.
Bill is survived by his wife, Beverly; children Bart, Jo Ann, Terry, Jim, and Ellen; 13 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Ballard Funeral Home of Cody is in charge of arrangements. Burial will be in the family plot near Clark. A celebration of Bill’s life is planned for May in the Clark community.
