December 21, 2005
"Mom" Kouba

Despite the Christmas season and the beautiful snowy landscape, this is a sad time for the Kouba Clan. Our Mom, and the Mom or Grandma to racers everywhere has passed away.

Thanks to dear friends of my sister Judy, Mom returned home via private jet last Saturday. She spent the weekend surrounded by all three of us kids (Judy, Joe and me) as well as all of Joe's children and grandchildren and my own kids. We spent her last days in warmth and love and she died with many of her loved ones by her side.

Mom was a kind and beautiful lady. Her presence will missed by all those whose lives she touched.

Jimmy

Ethelyn “Mom” Kouba, 75, of Rochester MN passed away Monday, December 19, 2005 at her home after a series of recent illnesses.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, December 23, 2005 at 10:00 A.M. at

Mueller-Bies Funeral Home, 7050 Lake Drive, Lino Lakes, MN 55014. Visitation for friends and family will be held Thursday, December 22 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and again Friday from 9 am to 10 am. Final internment will be at Forest Hill Cemetery, Milaca, MN next to her beloved husband of 42 years, Earl Kouba.

For over 55 years, “Mom” was a fixture at midget and sprint car races on dirt tracks across the country supporting not only Earl but her sons, Joe and Jimmy, grandchildren Joseph, Jacob and Anna as well as all of her “adopted” racers.

Born May 19, 1930 in Denver, Colorado, Ethel attended Holy Family High School in Denver. On September 10, 1949 she married Earl and moved to the Kouba family ranch just south of Sedalia, Colorado. The couple raised registered Hereford cattle on the Front Range of Colorado until 1966 when the family moved to a ranch near Onamia, Minnesota.

Ranching and racing were her way of life. Each spring, she lived to see the new calves born on the ranch and to hear the sound of the race car engines being prepared for a new season on the track.

Ethel is survived by: her three children, Judy Kouba Dominick, Winston-Salem, NC; Joe Kouba and wife Kathy, Lino Lakes, MN and Jimmy Kouba and wife Jamie, Byron MN; nine grandchildren Michelle Hallbeck (Bill), Joseph Kouba (Jill), Mindy Larsen (Frank), Elicia Buzinec (Paul), Anna Kouba, Jacob Kouba, Kaitie Kouba, Laina Dominick and John Dominick (Erin); six great grandchildren Chelsey Hallbeck, Luke Hallbeck, Maria Larsen, LilyAnn Dominick, Mitchell Dominick and Benjamin Dominick; one sister, Delores Higdon; numerous nieces, nephews, friends and extended family Tom, Tommy and Chet Van Swearingen.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Ethel’s name to your favorite charity.