Terrance Michael Kolody was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on September 14, 1974, to Natalie and Larry Kolody. He was the first grandchild on his mother's side of the family so he was everyone's baby. His Baba (Grandmother) and Gido (Grandfather) Sochatsky, his Auntie Teresa, Uncle Myron, and Uncle Duane doted on Terry like he was their own.

In elementary school, it was obvious that Terry was gifted. He had an aptitude for anything related to math and science. By ten years old, he was teaching himself to program computers. He was interested in anything and everything that had to do with electronics and robotics. He was famous for pulling apart items like the VCR players, radios, Vic 20 computer, and Commodore 64, and anything else he could get his hands on. He had a desire to know how things worked. His passion for learning and self-improvement fueled his academic and professional goals for the rest of his life.

It was in Junior HIgh school where Terry started to branch out. He was in the band where he played the clarinet. He originally wanted to play the bassoon but after lugging his instrument home one day, he decided that the clarinet was much lighter and easier to manage. He was in the band with his good buddy Marc Bessette who played the trumpet. While no one would consider Terry to be a natural musician, he liked being in the band because he enjoyed the camaraderie of being a part of a group.

Terry attended Archbishop Macdonald Catholic High School where he was a part of the International Baccalaureate program. While there, Terry was very focused on his classes and soared academically. In high school, his love of all things mechanical translated into a passion for cars. He and his good buddy Damien, spent day and night working on and modifying cars. He also was obsessed with improving and modifying the stereo systems in his car as well as in his sister Chrissie's car to show off at local hangouts where teenagers meet to show off their creations. Along with cars, and like many other teenagers, Terry enjoyed playing laser tag and paintball with his friends. He also loved going on school ski trips.

After high school, Terry attended the University of Alberta to study electrical engineering. Terry went to school for three years, then entered into the Co-op program and went to Calgary to work for the power company. The idea behind being part of this program was to gain some practical experience working in the field. Like the rest of his academic career, Terry sailed through university with great success and graduated in 1997. After graduation, Terry went to work for ATCO Power in Edmonton. From there, he transitioned into a job with ClearNet Communications where he worked for a couple of years.

In 2001, Terry moved to the USA. Originally he never thought that he would stay, but eventually, the states became his home. From 2001 to 2005 Terry worked as a Senior RF Engineer for Sprint. In 2005 he left Sprint and went to work for Cricket Mobile. In 2014 he left Cricket and worked for a mortgage company named ClosingCorp. Although he liked the company and its philosophy, telecommunications was in Terry's blood so he went back to Sprint as a private contractor in 2014. By 2016 Terry changed roles and started working as a software engineer for Sprint. He did that until the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile. In 2020 Terry became the Senior Engineer and Systems Architect at T-Mobile.

Terry was never one to let work consume his entire life. He had a wide variety of interests outside of work. Terry loved mountain biking. He would often go on trails around San Diego or trek out of state to meet up with friends to ride bikes. Moab, Ut. was one of his favorite places to ride and experience nature. Terry was also a key member of the San Diego curling community. He would spend one night a week curling and enter a bonspiel whenever possible. Terry also enjoyed working out with Sean and Sarah Gogarty at SGO fitness. It was through SGO fitness that Terry was introduced to Spartan races. He was hooked after he competed in his first race. After that, he spent many hours training for the different obstacles. In true form, competing wasn't enough for Terry. Terry needed a challenge and so he made up his mind to complete two trifectas. That means that Terry ran all three lengths offered by Spartan twice. In 2019 he completed this double trifecta (6 races) and was planning on doing the same thing the following year. To help improve his climbing ability for the Spartan races Terry started going to The Grotto, a local climbing gym. Climbing was a challenge for Terry, but he was bound and determined to improve. He regularly went to the climbing gym for workouts and was thrilled every time he made it through a tough route. In addition to his athletic endeavors, Terry had other hobbies. One of his favorites was the time that he built a battle bot with his friends Dave Schultz and Steve Vitulli. Their battle bot was named Hugz & Kisses. He often spoke of how much fun it was designing and building the bot with his friends. Most recently Terry enjoyed buying old watches and refurbishing them. He would spend hours meticulously taking them apart, cleaning each and every piece, repairing any broken parts, and then putting them back together like new. They were a source of wearable pride for him and he loved explaining to others the intricate details of each repair.

Terry and I met in the fall of 2009. We were both on a dating website when he sent me a message. We emailed a couple of times before he asked if we could meet. Since we were meeting on a dating website, we agreed that we should set a time limit of 30minutes. That way, we wouldn't have to endure sitting with someone with whom we weren't connecting. Three hours later we realized that we had missed our cut-off time. He walked me to my car and asked if we could meet up the following Friday for a 'real' date. After that, the rest was history. We spent as much time together as possible. Then, on April 8, 2011, Terry proposed. On November 19, 2011, at the Karl Strauss Brewery, we were married in front of our friends and family. It was a joyous occasion filled with lots of laughter, love, and dancing.

Terry and I enjoyed traveling. We took many trips over the years. We have been all over Canada, Iceland, Prague, Switzerland, Italy, Copenhagen, Scotland, Hawaii, Chicago, Seattle, and Portland. Our idea of travel was exactly the same, minimal planning and maximum experience. We loved nothing more than walking around a city, seeing the sights, hiking, taking pictures, eating local cuisine, and intermingling with the locals. In addition to our travels, terry and I took great pride in our home. We bought our fixer-upper in 2012. Over the next 8 years, we turned our house into a home that we loved. Terry redid the backyard building a deck, four planters, and a covered patio. Inside, we renovated our kitchen, both bathrooms, and floors. It was a labor of love for both of us.

In December of 2019, Terry was diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma. We immediately sprang into action researching oncologists, surgeons, and facilities that would be able to help him. He battled hard for 2 years. He endured a 13-hour long surgery to remove his tumor, countless infections, radiation, and chemotherapy. All the while Terry insisted on working and keeping his life as normal as possible.

In the end, he had given all that he could give. He fought with everything that he had inside of him, but it just wasn't to be. His cancer spread too rapidly and his body simply couldn't recover quickly enough. He passed away, holding my hand, with me, his mother, and my sister by his bedside.

Terry told me he was at peace, that he had lived a good life, and met a lot of wonderful people along the way. He felt very grateful for his blessed life. 

Send to someone

Share this obituary with others

https://everloved.com/life-of/terry-kolody/obituary/

Copy