Forrest Lee Coltharp

Forrest Lee Coltharp passed from this life July 24 at Frontenac, Kansas. He was born October 30, 1933 in Caney, Kansas to Ralph Perry and Edith Mary (Clevenger) Coltharp and graduated from Caney High School. He served in the United States Army with occupation forces in Germany from 1954 to 1956. He attended Phillips University, and received his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Coltharp taught Mathematics for 38 years, seven years in the Stillwater Public Schools, and 31 years at Pittsburg State University, retiring in 1995 as Professor Emeritus in Mathematics.

On June 14, 1952 he married Barbara Jean Arnold in Stillwater, OK. She survives at the home. He has been a resident of Pittsburg since 1964, when he joined the PSU Mathematics Faculty. Other survivors include his sons, Douglas Coltharp, Lubbock, TX, Dr. Kent Coltharp and his wife Judy, Pittsburg, KS and Dr. Glenn Coltharp and his wife Dr. Hazel, rural Asbury, MO, his eight grandchildren: Kyle Coltharp and wife, Tracy, Overland Park, KS, Angela Coltharp, Austin, TX, Chris Coltharp, Joplin, MO, Dr. Ashleigh Heter and husband Jon, Pittsburg, KS, Tamara Coltharp, Austin, Tx, Dr. Jean Coltharp, Joplin, MO, Robert Quinten Coltharp, Omaha, NE, and Benjamin Coltharp, rural Asbury MO, and 5 great grandchildren, Andrew, Brady and Rylee Coltharp, Overland Park, KS, and Natalie and Brooke Heter, Pittsburg, KS.

            Forrest was a forty-year member of the First Christian Church where he taught the 20th Century Sunday School Class for 31 years. He served as an Elder, Moderator of the Board for four terms, and served as chair of many departments. He served as Regional Moderator for the Region of Kansas, served on the Regional Board for eight years and four years on the General Board of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. Since 2004 he has been an active member of Countryside Christian Church, where he served as an Elder and on the Board of the Countryside Christian School, serving as chairman of the school board in the initial year of establishment of the school. He also served on the Family Selection and Support Committee for Habitat for Humanity of Crawford County and on the Friends of the Pittsburg Public Library Board. He was active in Mathematics Education at the local, state and national level. He served as President of the Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics and on several committees of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. As a member of Kiwanis, he served as President of the Noontime Kiwanis Club and as Lt. Governor of the Kansas District of Kiwanis International. He was a Kiwanis International George F. Hixson Diamond Fellow, received the Kansas James W. Putnam Award and was the Kansas District Kiwanian of the Year in 1999.

            He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers Leonard, Howard, and Darrell Coltharp. He will be cremated according to his wishes and a private Family Memorial Service will be held at Brenner’s Mortuary.  Friends may call at their convenience from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, July 31 at Brenner Mortuary.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggest gifts to Countryside Christian Church, Pittsburg State University Mathematics Department’s Coltharp Family Mathematics Education Scholarship, or the Pittsburg State University Irene Ransom Bradley School of Nursing and may be left at the funeral home. These may be left at or mailed to the Brenner Mortuary, 114 East 4th St., Pittsburg, KS  66762. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Forrest Lee Coltharp, please visit our floral store.