Obituary: Harvey Oliver Kolhoss

Sep. 15, 1914 - June 17, 2013

Harvey Oliver Kolhoss passed away Monday, June 17, 2013 at Banner Churchill Hospital. He was born in Fallon, Nevada on September 15, 1914 to Harvey and Nannie (Matthews) Kolhoss. Harvey was raised in Fallon and attended local schools graduating from Churchill County High School in 1934. After high school, he attended the University of Nevada, Reno graduating in 1938 with an engineering degree.

Following his graduation, Harvey worked for Anaconda Copper Company in Walker Mine, California. In 1940 he was drafted as part of the first peacetime conscription in the United States during World War II. He went to Fort Lewis, Washington with Company 1 of the Fifteenth Infantry for basic and then went on to Officer Candidate School. He served at Fort Knox and Fort Huachuca before going to England to prepare for the invasion of France. On June 9, 1944, three days after D-Day, Harvey landed on Omaha Beach, commanding a section of tank destroyers which were lightweight, open turreted, tracked vehicles designed to hunt and kill German tanks. He was in four different campaigns located in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe serving with the 813 Tank Destroyer Battalion, the Seventy-Ninth Infantry Division, and the One Hundred First Airborne. From June 27, 1944 through May 8, 1945, he received two Bronze Stars for heroic achievement and a Silver Star for gallantry in action against the enemy in France. Harvey remained in Europe until the end of the war in May 1945. He served in reserves until 1954. When he ended his military career, he was a Captain.

After returning to Fallon, Harvey began operating Kolhoss Cash Store with his brother, Munsey. His father opened the Maine Street store in 1920. The two brothers ran the store until 1984 when they sold it and retired. Although the store was primarily for groceries, they also sold clothing, shoes, and some hunting and fishing supplies in the beginning. They were the first store to sell Levi jeans in Fallon. Customers could call in their orders, and Harvey and Munsey would deliver the groceries the same day. The store was also known for the special Christmas candy they sold each December.

Harvey was a member of a coffee group that met twice a day for coffee for over forty years. He also enjoyed hunting, fishing, riding horses, snow and water skiing which he was still doing in his eighties. His pride and joy was his ranch on Harrigan Road. Traveling was another enjoyment for Harvey as he traveled to Alaska, South America, Panama Canal, and around the United States. He kept very active well into his nineties.

Harvey is survived by a niece, Pam Wickizer (Sam); nephews, Jack Tedford (Nancy), Lynn Wall, Kelly Kolhoss (Ruth), and Kris Kolhoss (Monica); sister-in-law, Edna Kolhoss; and many great nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Harvey and Nannie Kolhoss; sisters, Elizabeth Tedford and Alice Chism; brother, Munsey Kolhoss; and niece, Cindy Tedford Wall.

Services will be held on Saturday, June 22, 2013 at 2 p.m. at the Smith Family Funeral Home, 505 Rio Vista Dr. in Fallon. Viewing will precede services at 1 p.m. Burial will follow in the Fallon Cemetery.