Marion Arthur Colbert

Marion Arthur “Art” Colbert, 91, of Salida died Sept. 10, 2021, at his home. He was born May 28, 1930, in Stratford, Texas, to John Marion and Gladys D. Davison Colbert.

At age 15, in 1945, he came to Salida to go deer hunting with his dad. He arrived by bus with a small cardboard suitcase with his deer rifle wrapped in his bedroll. He liked Salida so much he stayed. He went to work with his father and his father’s partner at a small granite quarry near Turret. There he learned blacksmithing and how to handle black powder and dynamite. In later years Mr. Colbert worked at other quarries and mines, including Monarch Quarry, of which he had lots of stories to tell. In 1950 he joined the U.S. Navy and went to heavy equipment school outside San Diego. He was assigned to a construction battalion, better known as the Seabees, and served in South Korea, Japan and Guam. He was in the service a little less than four years. In 1959 he married Mae Belle Ann Caynor. They bought a newly built house on Chilcott Street. They had two children. The couple divorced in 1983. At one time, Mr. Colbert had his own excavating company and later worked for Y&K Excavating and CC Excavating. In 1986 he was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In 1989 he met Deborah “Debbie” Kalivoda at the Kingdom Hall, and they were married in 1991. They spent 30 years together. She took care of him the last few months of his life until he died at home in the house he bought in 1959.

Mr. Colbert was preceded in death by his parents; brother Eugene L. Colbert; and step-daughter Kristy Lee Kalivoda Roszel.

Survivors include his wife; son, Richard Arthur Colbert of Delta; daughter, Cheryl Ann Colbert of Salida; step-daughter Kathryn “Katy” Kalivoda; brother Harold Alan Colbert of Colorado Springs; sister, Martha Dorothy (Lee) Valentine of Cañon City; sister-in-law, Eleanor Colbert; grandchildren, Richard Dice, Adena (Marcus) Scanga and Jeffery Colbert; great-grandchildren, Cecilia Duran and Cataleya Dice; and many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held at a later.

Arrangements are with Lewis and Glenn Funeral Home in Salida.

Online condolences may be made at www.lewisandglenn.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Marion Arthur Colbert, please visit our floral store.