Obituary of Dolores Kuhlman

Dolores Geiss Kuhlman passed away on June 11, 2022, in Edina, Minnesota. She was born in Minneapolis on July 27, 1925 to parents Margareta and Richard Geiss. During the Great Depression, when work was scarce, Dolores and her mother moved to Hockenheim, Germany, where Margareta had grown up. Richard Geiss passed away in Chicago in 1932.

Dolores lived through the second World War in Germany. She and her mother and extended family experienced the horrors of bombing and food shortages. After the war, during the American occupation, Dolores worked at the American military base.

In 1948, at the age of 23, she moved back to the country of her birth. After working off her passage to the United States as a housekeeper and nanny in New York City, family members encouraged her to return to Minnesota, where she had distant relatives. There, Dolores learned English, found employment, and made lifelong friends with whom she remained in touch until the end of her life.

In 1952, Dolores relocated once again, this time to Billings, Montana. In Billings, she found work and new friends, one of whom asked her, “Dolores, would you like to meet a tall handsome man?” That man’s name was Paul Kuhlman; he was just beginning his career as a CPA in Billings. The two met and were married in Minneapolis on December 9, 1956. Two daughters followed in 1959 and 1961.

In 1969 Paul and Dolores purchased a cabin near Red Lodge, Montana. The family spent many happy summers there, exploring the Beartooth mountains and enjoying the town of Red Lodge.

Dolores felt motherhood was her true calling in life, and her daughters benefited immensely from her loving hand. In 2004, she achieved her dream of showering a new member of the family with love—her grandson Danil. She extended her warmth to innumerable friends over many decades. An avid letter-writer, she kept up friendships with people in Germany, including school friends from the 1930s.

Dolores is preceded in death by her parents and husband. She is survived by her daughters Rebecca Kuhlman (Bill Rova) and Erika Kuhlman (Kevin Marsh), and grandson Danil Marsh.

A private memorial service will be held at 10:00am on August 1, 2022 in Red Lodge. Both Paul and Dolores will be buried in Red Lodge Cemetery following the service.

Memorials may be sent to the Carbon County Disaster Relief Fund to help residents of Red Lodge and nearby communities recover from recent devastating floods:

www.rlacf.org/donate-2/local-causes/carbon-county-disaster-fund

122 Hauser Avenue South

P.O. Box 1871

Red Lodge, MT 59068