Donald Arthur Kolp

On July 2, 2023, Don Kolp of Chatham Massachusetts passed away at the age of 80 years surrounded by his family. This followed a battle with a rare palsy (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy) that met an even rarer human being.

He will be lovingly remembered and admired by his wife Colleen, daughter Kelly and son Peter (wife Erinn), grandchildren Paige, Logan, Caleb and Connor and close friends in Connecticut, Cape Cod and around the world.

Don was born into a family of 6 boys in Ohio to a railroad worker. His father passed when he was young and Don went to Case University for engineering and to play running back in football. He caught the eye of Colleen Kolp and not from his engineering. He was drafted to the Montreal Monarches of the CFL. He joined the Peace Corps to build bridges in Pakistan where he learned fluent Urdu. He then went into engineering at United Technologies and then found a second family at Energy Services in Farmington, CT. He got his Business Degree at University of Hartford and went on to found Kolp Engineering, traveling to Korea and Turkey, amongst other places, to build steam turbines. He learned fluent Turkish while growing his trademark beard. More importantly he was an avid biker, painter, kayaker, great digger of beach holes and fisherman for his grandkids and dedicated husband to his wife of 57 years Colleen whom he affectionately referred to as “huggy bear” (Wedding date 9/17/1966)

Instead of flowers, which he loved in his garden but strongly wished that his funeral be devoid of them, we ask that Memorial Donations be made in Don Kolp’s name to Friends of the Children New York, (https://friendsnewyork.org/donate) ( Friends Place Harlem, 1325 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10026), a charity the helps underprivileged kids get paired up with mentors, where he attended the Gala and donated graciously to for the past 14 years.

The family wishes to send a special thank you to the staff at Mass General and Cape Cod Hospital, and the touching amount of support, kind words and thoughts from friends and family. Your care and compassion in the last three weeks has made this time bearable and touched us all.

Don is looking forward to his reunion with his beloved daughter Lindsey and biking the mountains of the great elsewhere.

Visitation will be held from 11a-12p, with a memorial service from 12p-1p on Saturday, July 8th at Nickerson Funeral Home, 87 Crowell Road, Chatham, MA.