Collette Folstad

Collette Carlos (Buhr) Folstad, 88, of West Fargo, North Dakota, passed away September 20, 2026, at Essentia Health in Fargo, surrounded by her family.

Born September 14, 1938, to Lorenz and Sylvia (Benzmiller) Buhr on the family farm in Ayr Township, North Dakota, “Collie” loved helping her dad in the field and listening to his stories about what a great basketball player her mother had been. As a result, she developed an early love of athletics that would shape the course of her life. A standout basketball and softball player, she graduated as co-valedictorian of the Ayr High School Class of 1956 before attending Interstate Business College and later enrolling at North Dakota Agricultural College (now North Dakota State University) in 1958. Excited to continue playing basketball, she discovered there were no intercollegiate sports available for women. Rather than accept those limitations, she dedicated her life to changing them.

While attending NDSU, Collette distinguished herself as a student leader, serving as president of Kappa Delta Sorority, Mortar Board, and the Women's Recreation Association, while also holding leadership positions in Student Senate and Sharivar. She graduated in 1962 and began teaching at Agassiz Junior High School in Fargo. It was while working at the NDSU bowling alley that she met her future husband, Elroy "Roy" Folstad, a member of the NDSU Bowling Team, whom she married on August 17, 1963, at St. James Catholic Church, Page, ND.

A pioneering advocate for women in sports, Collette was a woman of many firsts. She returned to NDSU in 1964 and became the first coach of the university’s modern-era women's intercollegiate basketball and volleyball programs and also coached women's track; she officiated in the first AIAW intercollegiate women’s basketball tournament held at Normal, Illinois in 1972; she started the women’s basketball program at Concordia College in 1974 and was the first coach in the Title IX era where her teams achieved considerable success. In addition to producing Concordia’s first All-American women’s basketball player, Collette was selected as one of the top 20 small college coaches in the United States in 1979. She is also likely the first coach to bring her infant daughter, Missy, to practice in a red travel bag and have the girls watch her while Collette was coaching at Dakota High School.

Another pivotal first occurred in 1972 when Collette successfully championed a change to allow women membership in the North Dakota High School Coaches Association and became the first woman admitted. She later became the first woman inducted into the association's Hall of Fame. Her coaching accomplishments included two small college state championships at Concordia College, two state championships and two state runner-up finishes at West Fargo High School, along with numerous state and national Coach of the Year and Coaching Achievement honors prior to her retirement in 2002. Over a distinguished 35-year coaching career, she led programs at NDSU, Dakota High School, Fargo South High School, Concordia College, Page High School, and West Fargo High School, compiling an overall record of 477-288.

Among her many recognitions were induction into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the NDSU Bison Athletic Hall of Fame, Concordia College Athletic Hall of Fame, West Fargo High School Hall of Fame, and North Dakota Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame. She was also the recipient of the NHSACA Kathy Holloway Women of Inspiration Award and was honored with the Kappa Delta Order of the Pearl award for exceptional contributions to her profession.

Collette attributed her success to the significant people in her life that believed in and encouraged her, a belief in self that would not allow others to define her, a passion and love for what she was doing, and perseverance to overcome the obstacles she faced along the way. And most notably, she credited Roy with being a man ahead of his time which enabled her to pursue her coaching career at a time when women were expected to fulfill more traditional roles.

In retirement, Collette enjoyed reading, bowling, golfing, and playing cards with her friends. Her greatest joy was cheering for her granddaughter, Addi, and watching her love of basketball flourish.

Collette will be remembered as a teacher, mentor, trailblazer, and advocate whose efforts helped open doors for generations of female athletes. Her life reflected the Kappa Delta motto she embraced: "Let us strive for that which is honorable, beautiful and highest."

She is survived by her daughter, Michelle (Rich) Mack of Eden Prairie, MN; granddaughter Addison Mack of College Park, MD; brother Arnold Buhr of Buffalo, ND; sisters Connie (Ray) Sletteland of Devils Lake, ND, and Cloyce (Jim) Voeller of Lake Elmo, MN; sisters-in-law Ione Johnson of Moose Lake, MN, Nancy Nelson of Shelly, MN, and Helen Bernhardson of Moorhead, MN; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Elroy "Roy" Folstad; her parents, Lorenz and Sylvia Buhr; sister-in-law Barbara Buhr; and brothers-in-law Charles “Chuck” Bernhardson, Stuart Johnson and Howard Nelson.

Visitation: Friday, September 25, 2026, from 6-7 p.m., with the Vigil at 7 p.m., at Sts. Anne & Joachim Catholic Church, Fargo, ND.

Funeral Mass:  Saturday, September 26, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. at Sts. Anne & Joachim Catholic Church, Fargo, ND, with visitation one hour before the service.

Interment: Page Cemetery in Page, ND.

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