Ed Kolbe obituary
Disciples Divinity House is saddened to learn of the death of Edward Henry Kolbe, who died peacefully surrounded by family on July 10, 2025 while in hospice care at Southlake Village, Lincoln, Nebraska. He was 91.
Edward was born in Cypress, Texas on June 8, 1934 to Louis and Emilie Kolbe. Edward moved to Houston when he was 12, graduated from high school there, and went on to the University of Houston where he received a Bachelor’s degree.
In the fall of 1956, after graduating from the University of Houston, Ed Kolbe entered the University of Chicago as a Disciples House Scholar. “I was the last Disciples student of Dr. W.E. Garrison while he was teaching religion and philosophy at the University of Houston,” Mr. Kolbe reflects. “This was the catalyst for a lifetime of influence of Disciples House in my life.” W.E. Garrison had served as the second dean of Disciples Divinity House from 1921-28.
After receiving his BD degree, Mr. Kolbe began forty years of congregational ministry, primarily in university towns including Lincoln, Nebraska, and Seattle, Washington. In 1977, he earned a DMin degree from Christian Theological Seminary. He retired in 2000 from Saint Andrew Christian Church in Arlington, Texas. He served interims in Texas, Missouri, and Kentucky.
He married Mary Ruth Judd in Seymour, IN in 1961. She preceded him in death in 2017. Mary Ruth received a Bachelor’s degree in nursing from Indiana University and a Master’s in nursing from the University of Nebraska. She taught nursing on the community college and university level for forty years in Indianapolis, Indiana; Warrensburg, Missouri; Lincoln, Nebraska; Corvallis, Oregon; and retired from Tarrant County College in 2002. She also worked as a director of nurses in nursing homes. She died on March 27, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. She was 79.
The Kolbes, who were married for 55 years, led educational tours to Israel and Europe, and volunteered in many clubs and organizations. They supported the mission of the Disciples Divinity House, and encouraged many prospective students, including Amy Artman and Vy Nguyen, to consider DDH. Mr. Kolbe served three terms on the Alumni/ae Council.
Gifts from the Kolbes’ three adult children, Ruth, Charles, and Tom, and their families on the occasion of their father’s 85th birthday in June combined with a generous gift in memory of Mary Ruth Kolbe to create the Edward H. and Mary Ruth Judd Kolbe Fund.