Jeffrey "Jeff" Colehour

Jeffrey “Jeff” A. Colehour, age 78, of Willmar, passed away Friday, Dec. 11, at the University of Minnesota Fairview Hospital due to COVID complications.

A public celebration of life service will be held at a later date in 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic.  Arrangements are with the Peterson Brothers Funeral Home.  www.petersonbrothers.com

Jeffrey Alden Colehour was born in Fargo, ND on June 4th, 1942 to Alden “Pete” and Rose Marie Colehour as the elder of two sons. Jeff graduated high school from Fargo North High in, Fargo ND and graduated from North Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. The University is also where he met his wife of 57 years, Charlene “Sherry” Colehour. After graduating, the former Bison, took his first job as a Pharmacist in Morris, MN. Several years later he would become the first Pharmacist in charge of distribution, inventory and personnel at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar. Jeff would later open his own store, Medical Park Pharmacy, which he and his partner Bruce Bjornberg operated for 21 years. After selling his business, he became a staff pharmacist for the Willmar Regional Treatment Center and later on at Coborn’s.

Jeff’s great passions in life were golf and fishing. He grew up caddying at the local course where he would also hone his chipping and putting skills. After moving his family to Willmar in 1967, he became a member of the Willmar Golf Club in 1970 for the low price of $100 and where he would meet some lifelong friends in the 19th hole. All of his sons would soon share his passion for the sport and would all later play in the annual 5-person scramble at the New London Country Club.

His other favorite pastime of fishing was fed by his memberships with the Elks (Exulted Ruler), Eagles, and Owls Fraternal Organizations. He would often take annual trips to Canada with these groups for walleye fishing. Jeff’s interest in fishing stemmed from his time spent on Middle Cormorant Lake in Lake Park, MN, trying to catch the elusive Minnesota state fish. His parents bought a cabin on this lake in 1959 and he would spend days fishing off the dock, while his younger brother Jamie, would be out on his speed boat. This cabin is still a family gathering location, where Jeff thoroughly enjoyed baiting hooks and making s’mores with grandchildren. He was known for being the Captain of the Fish Fry after the requisite Sunnies and Crappies were caught.

All four of Jeff’s sons also played hockey during their youth and Jeff was intimately involved in the early program of the Willmar Hockey Association, with the irony being that he didn’t skate. He would travel with his wife, Sherry, and stand out in the cold cheering them on as they played most of the games outdoors.

He is survived by his four children, Scott and Alixandra (Grade) Colehour of Minnetonka, MN, Steven and Jenna (Kuntz) Colehour of Chaska, MN, Bradley and Ann Marie (Liggett) Colehour of Mount Prospect, IL, and Daniel Colehour of Willmar, MN, eight grandchildren, Alex, Courtney (Ryan), William (Lisa), MacTaggert, Maggie, Emma, Kate, and Torrin, five great grandchildren, Amelia, Jackson, Max, Makenzie and Liam, as well as nieces, Jaye Lyne Erickson, and Anne Colehour Mullen, and nephew Jeffrey Erickson.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Charlene “Sherry” Colehour on Dec. 1, 2020, and his brother, James B. Colehour.