Lona Lola Koltick

"I was born on a stormy night during the spring equinox, on March 24, 1923, when day and night are briefly equal, and signs of spring begin with the increasing of light and the return of life to the frozen earth. My grandfather, a horse and buggy doctor in Oklahoma, was called to deliver me at home in Cyril, Oklahoma but due to the bitterly cold blizzard, the dirt roads were impassable for his horse and buggy. My Aunt Mattie was there to help my mother with the birth, but in her excitement over the labor and the storm, she added too much wood to the wood burning stove and nearly burned the house down until my mother jumped out of bed to close the damper, just enough movement to cause me to enter the world on my own. I was the only daughter among four brothers, growing up in the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl era. Our family lacked many things. We lived in a one room cabin without indoor plumbing or electricity, and like so many other families of this time we scraped for food, eating lots of pinto beans. But we had a great sense of pride, valuing individualism as well as a gift for gab and telling good stories, and we were always told we came from good stock. These early days of childhood are what helped to shape and mold me and my personality. I have always been a curious person, having a thirst for learning and books, music, and the arts. But the historical period also had a say in how my life would get manifested. While in my senior year in high school I placed second in the Oklahoma State typing contest in 1941, thus allowing me to attend Hill’s Business University in Oklahoma City. World War II interrupted this education with my acceptance of a federal civil service position in Washington, DC. After the war I took an assignment in Heidelberg, Germany which allowed me to travel all over Germany and into neighboring countries. It was through my travels that I met my future husband, Joseph Koltick, also a federal employee. We were married in 1950 and continued our travels as a way of life even after our three children were born. Our most prominent stay was in Tripoli, Libya, North Africa where I worked various secretarial jobs with the oil company. I also represented the First Church of Christ Scientist as a Christian Science minister, chaplain, and practitioner at Wheelus Air Force base. We had two tours of duty in Libya lasting a total of eight years. Michigan became our home base and is where our children attended high school and college. After they left home, we moved to the thumb area of Michigan and bought a hardware store in the town of Harbor Beach. It wasn’t enough for me to just do the book work for the store. I attended the Elsa Williams School of Needle Art in Massachusetts under the tutelage of the famous Elsa Williams, learning crewel and canvas embroidery. I went on to establish my own hobby business, teaching needle art to various adult groups not only in Michigan but later in Tennessee when we sold the store and moved to Winchester, Tennessee. It was this returning home to a place where my ancestors were rooted that I became interested in genealogy, tramping all over the state to cemeteries, historical societies, and working as a volunteer with the Franklin County Historical Society, sorting and cleaning old documents, and transcribing records for publication. This was all before the Internet and google searches. I was realizing that I was getting hooked on genealogy. If I could give any advice to the younger generation, it would be to get out there and visit these places. It will add more depth and excitement to your search for your roots and identity. Through my genealogical research I was able to connect my lineage back to some of the first families of Tennessee who settled in the area before Statehood in 1796. I also connected back to the Jamestown Society as a descendant of Capt. Thomas Graves, and even further back showing an unbroken lineage from Emperor Charlemagne through my ancestor William Ironmonger who immigrated to Virginia in 1652 from England. After my husband died in 1984, I continued to work on my genealogy, self-publishing two books, one called My Heritage (1986) and the other called My Colonial Ancestry (1999) both of which have been deposited in the Tennessee State Library and Archives along with my research papers. During this time I also began traveling, first to visit relatives throughout Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Arizona and then continued my self-education. I attended summer writing workshops at the University of Iowa as well as attended many elder hostels throughout the U.S. and abroad, even traveling to China, Scotland, and Ireland. I am proud of my continued quest for knowledge and wisdom and my love for learning. You are never too old to keep growing and learning new things, and never too old to stop searching for truth or for fulfilling your dreams." Lona Black Koltick died in her own home in Janesville, Wisconsin on February 4, 2022, just one month shy of her 99th birthday. She was active right up until about 3 weeks before her death. She is preceded in death by her parents Warwick Harris Black and Zillah Belle Young Black, her four brothers- William, Waldo, Leslie, and Lindy Black and their wives. She is survived by her three children – Dr. David S. Koltick (and wife Helen) of Lafayette, IN, Dr. Jo Ann Koltyk (and husband John T. Miller) of Janesville, WI, and Janet Koltick B.S degree (English/Psychology) of Janesville, WI., and Lona’s three grandchildren – Colleen Koltick of Brooklyn, NY, Sharon Koltick Junk (and husband Damion Junk) of Goodlettsville, TN, and Laura Belanger (and husband Shane Belanger) of North Charleston, SC, along with four great grandchildren – Sophie, Chandler, Ada, and Julian. At Lona’s wishes, no service will be held.