Sam Kolman

Samuel James Kolman, 63, of Albuquerque, NM, passed away on Oct 29, 2024 of bone cancer. He loved his mom, bears, writing poetry and dancing.

He had also been an avid ultra marathon runner, and had run a race of a mere 90 miles only six month before his diagnosis. He loved hiking the mountains with his faithful companion, Char. When he wasn’t doing that he managed his apartments during the day, dancing to country music at night. He also had a passion for beautiful rocks, really large rocks, which filled any empty space in his apartment awaiting the day when he could begin building himself a home in the mountains of Colorado. These carefully selected, cut and polished stones, were to be an integral part of that home, but that was not to be.

Another of Sam’s passions was photographing bears which are showcased in a children’s book he coauthored with his Mom, titled “Bear Sunshine”.

Sam had an airplane mechanic certification, as well as a private pilot’s license and had obtained a college degree. He taught high school math at a private boarding school in Arizona for a few years.

His only children were his much loved dogs, who loved him in return.

Sam was well known for being hard headed, as was illustrated at dinner a few years ago with his mom, sister and her husband. Sitting outside at a lovely table under an umbrella in Albuquerque, the group noticed clouds rolling in. Showing Sam the weather radar, he declared, “it’s not going to rain.” The clouds continued to build which prompted more weather radar watching. Again Sam announced, “it’s not going to rain.” We all sat quietly eating dinner as water poured down our backs and thunder rolled. No one dared mention that it was, in fact, raining. Finally the waiters begged us to go inside. Soaking wet, we walked in the door to Dad’s favorite song “Streets of Laredo” - a nod that meant Dad was having a good laugh.

Sam is predeceased by his father, Clare Neil Kolman, and his mother, Geraldine Joyce Bethel Kolman, his older brother, Steven Neil Kolman, leaving only his sister, Shelley Jo Kolman Smith, her husband Patrick, their children, nephew Neil William Smith, niece Emily Anne and husband Tom Tielleman with their children, Jack and Claire and another niece Eleanor Jacquelyn, her husband Matt Smyser and daughter Nora.

As a military brat, he was born in Downey, CA but mostly grew up in Georgia, New Mexico and Mississippi, graduating high school at Edwards AFB, CA. For a time, when his dad was stationed at Kirkland AFB, Sam’s childhood was magical, climbing the volcano cliffs of Albuquerque, swimming in a rather nasty stock tank, racing his horse around the West Mesa and spending hours on a little dirt bike.

The evening before Sam passed away, he took one more walk around his apartment. Holding his walker he strolled slowly to the back door and with a little confusion attempted to go outside. His sister stopped him a few times before he relented and stayed in. Deliberately setting the walker aside, Sam placed his hands on his sister’s shoulders and she reached for his. Slowly and gracefully, they danced his last dance. Sam sat down, rested his head on her and there was peace. He passed away the next morning.

Sam finished his last book of poetry, “Don’t Laugh at My Dragon”, only a few days before his untimely fate. Sam also had a passion for inventing things like a CNC router from scratch. He also loved computer programming. For a time he owned a framing store in Albuquerque where he made and designed custom frames for artwork. His photography of bears and nature was lovely. It was expected that he would meet his demise from “poking the bear” as he liked to push the limit regarding getting a little too close to the massive creatures, but Sam was Sam.

He is to be buried in a simple pine box at La Puerta Natural Burial Ground near the Manzano mountains and its bears on Nov. 25, 2024 at 11AM. His grave will be adorned with most of his rock collection and a perfect stone from his collection will be engraved for his headstone.