Antoinette (Toni) Kohlstedt

Antoinette (Toni) Dorothy LaRocco Kohlstedt died peacefully of natural causes at Gardens on Quail in Arvada, Colorado on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. She was 93 years old.

Toni was born on August 6, 1927 in Cleveland, Ohio to Nicholas Joseph LaRocco and Carmella Tito LaRocco. She had one sister, Angela Marie LaRocco Hynes, who preceded her in death. Toni lived in Ohio until she graduated high school and then moved with her family to Hollywood, California where she met her husband, Donald Leland Kohlstedt. They were married nearly 66 years from March 6, 1947 until Don’s death in 2013.

She was an Air Force wife and an LAPD wife for many years until they moved their family to Lakewood, Colorado where she was involved in several women’s groups, church organizations, and worked as a medical assistant, librarian, and business college student. Once her children were grown, she and Don moved to Oxford, Ohio to open The Duck Pond, a converted hundred-year-old farm house Bed and Breakfast that they renovated. Toni kept very busy with her church groups, women’s groups, and serving as leadership of the local chapter of the Ohio Bed and Breakfast Association. Her greatest accomplishment was publishing two cookbooks featuring stories and recipes from her Italian upbringing.

When age and declining health became an issue, the couple moved back to Lakewood to be close to their children and grandchildren. Toni continued to be socially engaged, entertaining in their home, making many friends and rekindling friendships with her old friends from before she left Colorado. She will surely be missed by many, including her new friends at the Gardens on Quail.

Toni and Don have three surviving children, Donald G. Kohlstedt, Kathy D. Kohlstedt Williams, and Karen L. Kohlstedt Rensink, eight grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. She will be interred with her husband at Ft. Logan National Cemetery later this Spring.

Memorial contributions are welcome at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or https://www.stjude.org .

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