Herman C. Kolbe

Herman C. Kolbe, 85, of Bridgewater, died peacefully on September 16, 2022.

Born in Camden, New Jersey, to the late Carl Martin and Helen Kolbe (nee Dahl), Herman was a graduate of Haddon Heights High School, Class of 1955. As a teenager, he earned the rank Eagle Scout and enjoyed annual family trips to Wildwood at the Jersey Shore. Herman went on to attend Drexel University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1960.

Mr. Kolbe proudly served his country in the United States Army Corps of Engineers as a combat engineer in Germany and was honorably discharged in 1963. He met the love of his life, Tisha Jolene Elliott, and the two were married in December of 1964 and settled in Ohio where they raised their family. After twenty years in Ohio, the Kolbe family moved to New Jersey.

Herman began his formal career in 1963 at Turner Construction Company in Cincinnati, Ohio as a Field Engineer. In 1974, he was named Project Manager. From 1976 to 1981, he left Turner to manage a concrete and general contracting firm based in Dayton, Ohio. Rejoining Turner in 1981, he was assigned Project Manager in the Pittsburgh office. In 1983, he was transferred to New York as Project Manager for the Museum of Modern Art project. Appointed Project Executive for the New York office in November, 1983, he presided over a number of well-known projects including America’s Tower and 53rd and 3rd (aka The Lipstick Building). In 1989, he was promoted to Vice President and Territory Operations Manager of the New Jersey Office. Some of his notable projects in New Jersey include the State House Annex and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. In 1998, he and his wife moved to Tampa, Florida where he worked at Kvaerner Construction Company as Executive Vice President. There, his projects included the Shriners Hospital and the Ringling Museum of Art. In 2001, Herman and Jolene returned to New Jersey and he worked for J.A. Jones as a Project Executive on New York City Schools, located in Queens and Brooklyn. From 2002 to 2007, he served as the Regional Director for the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation. In 2008, he retired after working one final year as Project Executive for Interstate Industrial Corporation.

During his retirement, Herman volunteered his time at the Lyons Veterans Administration Medical Center, transporting patients and taking on any task they asked of him. He was honored to help his fellow veterans and give back to those who gave their all. He was part of a tight knit group of grammar school classmates that stayed in close contact from the age of five years old to the present and with whom he routinely met for lunch in the Philadelphia area. He was a lifelong, faithful Phillies and Eagles fan. He enjoyed a good cigar, a round of golf and trips to Atlantic City. He was an avid reader of American History and non-fiction. Most of all, Herman was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He enjoyed taking his family to New York to see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular and then to his favorite restaurant, Ben Benson’s Steak House. Two of his most cherished family trips were to Walt Disney World to celebrate his 70th birthday and to Hershey Park this past June to celebrate his 85th birthday.

He was preceded in death by his dear brother, Harry M. Kolbe.

Surviving are his beloved wife of 57 years, Tisha “Jolene” Kolbe, his loving daughters Helen Werthan and husband Michael, and Margaret Foley and husband Brian, his cherished grandchildren Hannah and husband Kevin, Maximilian, Josiah, Maeve, and Maren, and his great-grandchildren Ava, Patrick and Colin.

Visitation will be held on Sunday, September 25, 2022, from 1:00 to 5:00 PM at Cusick Funeral Home, 80 Mountain Avenue, Somerville.

Funeral services will begin with a prayer at 10:00 AM on Monday, September 26, 2022, at Cusick Funeral Home, 80 Mountain Avenue, Somerville. Family and friends are welcome to gather beginning at 9:00 AM.

Entombment and military honors will follow at Somerset Hills Memorial Park, Basking Ridge.

Memorial contributions may be made in Herman’s memory to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 840692, Dallas, TX 75284-0692. Donate Online