Clear and Windy, 30° F
(Aug. 14, 1947 - Jan. 14, 2016)
Armand Lee Kolstad, age 68, passed away of medical conditions on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:23 p.m. surrounded by his family at the Billings Clinic Hospital in Billings, Montana. Armand was born in Powell, Wyoming on Thursday, August 14, 1947, the only child of LaVon Peace Hawley Kolstad and Myron Albin Kolstad.
Armand grew up in the historic “Studio” building on 2nd Street in the town of Powell, Wyo. His parents owned Lucier Studio, having purchased it from Mr. and Mrs. Lucier. His father worked as a portrait photographer in the studio, and later as a scenic photographer in Yellowstone National Park creating photographic sets for sale at Buffalo Bill Dam. Armand accompanied his parents and later purchased and carried out the photography business in Cody, Wyo. Armand attributed his learning about people of the United States and abroad from watching license plates and interacting with the tourists. He was often bemused when the tourists from the Midwest encountered the Beartooth Highway or the 22%- grade old Cody Highway to the Buffalo Bill Dam with their campers.
Armand also spent his early teen years riding horses on his uncles’ ranches in the Pryors. He was then ready to accompany visitors from around the U.S. on “The Thoroughfare” — the 10-day horseback trip through the most remote location in the lower 48 states bordering Yellowstone National Park to the very southeast, and the center from which was 30 miles in any direction to any road, which required and still requires experienced outfitters and guides. The guide was, back then in 1959, his Uncle Gus Edwards outfitter and Bureau of Reclamation employee. Along with a few tourists from New York, were Armand, his mother, his cousin Connie, Aunts Veva and Evelyn — Armand called that trip “The opportunity of a lifetime”.
In his later teen years, he worked hoeing sugar beets along with his comrades in the local sugar beet fields. He felt the “pay was pretty good” for the high school kids and for the girls who “worked on their tans”. Armand then worked in Yellowstone National Park as a teen, pumping gas at Fishing Bridge, enjoying swimming at Firehole Canyon, hiking, exploring with friends, pranking the tourists with an old steering wheel to “open Old Faithful Geyser” and attracting the local bears to friends’ cars with tuna fish sandwiches. After graduation, Armand attended Denver Automotive Institute in Denver, Colorado. He was recruited by a local Cadillac dealership wanting to hire “their top ranking student” and accepted a position just weeks before graduation as body shop manager, mechanic and parts manager initially in Boulder, Colorado and then in Scottsdale, Arizona.
He worked as an insurance adjuster in Phoenix, Arizona and continued N.H.R.A drag racing. It was an expensive but enjoyable hobby. He built and raced 3 of his own cars in the Boulder, Denver and Phoenix areas. He won 27 trophies. Upon the death of his father, Armand returned to Cody, Wyoming, purchased Lucier Studio and his father’s photography business while continuing the Yellowstone Scenic Landmark photographic sales at the Buffalo Bill Dam.
In 1978, he purchased his first semi-truck and became a long-haul trucker owner/operator. He logged over 7 million accident-free miles while leased to Sammons Trucking, Missoula, Mt., Vail Northwest Trucking, Eugene, Ore, CER trucking, Springfield, Or, and independently for Kolstad Trucking, Billings, Mt. Armand received numerous awards for “Driver of the Month”, and was “Contractor of the Year” for the 1982 year in which he logged over 187,000 miles solo. His rigs were titled “Old Black”, which was featured in Overdrive Magazine, Michelin Tires and Kenworth advertising, and “Katie’s Carriage”, in honor of his daughter and only child whom he proudly said “visited 27 states before she was a month old”. She could call him and ask him directions in any state and he would navigate her anywhere.
In 1980, he met his wife, Kim Ellen Stevens at Sammons Trucking while she was putting herself through graduate school at the University of Montana in Missoula, working as a log clerk and where Armand was a trucking contractor. They were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania on June 27, 1981. They had one child, Katie Ann Kolstad Clifton born in 1982. Although Armand committed to long haul trucking, he had not missed a single of his daughter’s birthdays, supported and attended her extra curricular activities, and pursued primarily lumber, steel and veneer loads that came through home. He was renown for his tarping perfection. He reluctantly semi-retired and then took up the pilot car business enjoying leading oversized loads to their destinations while maintaining his interactions with fellow truckers.
Armand had many hobbies and obsessions including: football, camping, boating, drag racing, sightseeing, going to the mountains, Nascar racing, basketball, photography, skiing, car and truck shows, rodeos, movies, fishing, travelling, shooting pool, cars and restoration, and spec’ing and designing his semi trucks. He invented games, such as snip fingers, and could usually beat you in your own game such as Scrabble, Jeopardy, or checkers, unless it was “guess-the-car-color game” with his colorblind disadvantage. His friend, Joe, laughingly invited him to participate in a target-shooting competition and he ended up walking away with the trophy and a gun. His daughter would request the huge prize stuffed animal at the fair, and she continued to expect him to win while admiring his reliability at winning all at that pool table each and every year. He had many favorite pets — his dogs Snippy, Bailiff, and Toro and Kailiff and his first horse “Bessie”.
Armand belonged to B.P.O.E., The American Trucking Association, Union Presbyterian Church of Powell, Wyo, Corvette Club, and the National Hot Rod Association.
Armand was predeceased by his father, Myron Albin Kolstad; his mother LaVon Hawley Kolstad; his paternal grandparents Belle and Andres "Andrew" Christian Kolstad; maternal grandparents William and Sarah A. May Hawley; Uncles Casper Kolstad, Ward (Beula) Hawley, Ralph (Louise) Hawley, Guy (Bertha) Hawley, Aunts Veva Hawley (Bill) Sedwick, Hazel (Russ) Hawley Gribble, Cecile (Gus) Hawley Edwards, and cousins Maynard Hawley, Evelyn Sedwick Bygren, Karen Nerlin, Helen White, and Joyce Christensen.
Armand is survived by his wife, Kim Stevens Kolstad; his daughter (and "Sweetie Pie") Katie Ann Kolstad Clifton and her husband Shaun Clifton, his grandson Carter Lee Clifton (“Big Buddy” "My Boy") and namesake, his cousins Robert Hawley of Lovell, Wyo., John Hawley of Fort Collins, Co, Connie Lapp of Pasadena, Ca., Charlotte Thoroughgood of Mesa, Arizona, Janice Harrison of Powell, Wyo., Kathryn Graham of Powell, Wyo., Melvin Hawley of Powell, Wyo., Gerry Bygren of Bigfork, Mt, Steve Bygren of Colorado and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
Memorial services and celebration of his life will be held Friday, May 27th at 10 a.m. at The Union Presbyterian Church, Powell, Wyoming and at the Brown Palace in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, July 23 at 2 p.m.
Gravesite is at the Crown Hill Cemetery in Powell, Wyoming.
Memorials may be made to the American Diabetes Foundation or the charity of one’s choosing.
Special thanks to: Dr. Rawlinson, Dr. MaGuire, Dr. Tometz, Drs. Saberhagen, Dr. Galasso, Dr. Caceres, Dr. Ottowicz, Jo Rowland, Salt Lake City Heart Failure team, Dr. Stalick, Dr. Terribilini, Billings Clinic Palliative Care team and the Billings Clinic Hospitalists.
