Barbara C Kolthoff

Barbara C. Kolthoff

January 1,1924 - May 15, 2022


Barbara Caroline Parfitt Kolthoff was a member of the pioneering Grow/Parfitt family on Bainbridge Island. Beautiful and smart, she graduated from Bainbridge High School in 1941, and then trained to be a secretary before moving to Los Angeles to join the war effort. While working for the Red Cross, she met John Kolthoff, a tall Texan in the US Army Air Corps. They wed in 1946 and were married until his death in 2012.


Barbara loved to travel and she did so extensively, living abroad for many years before making a home in Northern California. Later, she would take many trips both domestic and foreign and was always planning where she would next visit. In her middle years, she delighted in spending time with her grandchildren. After John’s death, Barbara moved back to Bainbridge Island to be nearer to her family.


Barbara is survived by her daughters, Karen Rae Kolthoff and Gail Kolthoff, her grandsons, John Mammes and James Mammes, nephew Gregory Parfitt and Pamela (née Parfitt) Bean and cousin, Aden (née Winther) Cardin. Preceded in death by her husband, John Kolthoff, her parents, Elnora and Ray Parfitt, brother, Gregg Parfitt and nephew, Rocky Parfitt.


Barbara will be interred in the family plot at Kane Cemetery, Bainbridge Island. Donations in her memory can be made to the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum.

Arrangements are entrusted to Cook Family Funeral Home of Bainbridge Island, WA