As the wife of a driller, Misty Koldenhoven spent 15 years bracing for a devastating accident in the oilfield. She never expected her husband, Dan, 41, to die suddenly at home just hours after he returned from two weeks on the rig.
“We always discussed the dangers of the oilfield,” Koldenhoven said. “I just always assumed it would be something catastrophic, like an explosion or car accident caused by someone else.”
Instead, her husband arrived back at their Wyoming home the night of Oct. 7 after finishing a shift in Texas. The family spent the evening together, planning for a weekend of dirt-bike riding and going to the kids’ championship football game.
"He tucked the kids into bed when he got home,” Koldenhoven said. “He told them goodnight and he loved them and was excited about their games this weekend.”
By 7:30 the next morning, everything had changed.
“The kids and I found him the next morning outside,” Koldenhoven said. “He was just outside, lying next to his truck.”
Koldenhoven said her husband suffered a sudden medical emergency, though his official cause of death remains under review by the medical examiner.
While they await those official results, Koldenhoven and her kids are processing a profound sense of loss that still feels surreal.
“He was an amazing person,” Koldenhoven said. “Intelligent, funny, a hard worker.”
Honoring His Legacy
As she and their two children — ages 9 and 6 — try to make sense of the loss, Koldenhoven wanted a way to honor her husband’s deep ties to his work. For his memorial, she commissioned a miniature version of the last rig her husband worked on, an operation he helped build with his own hands.
“He built that rig from the ground up in Oklahoma,” Koldenhoven said. “He had put so much time into building it, working it, building a crew. He loved his rig.”
After meeting on a blind date 18 years ago, Koldenhoven said she and her husband hit it off quickly over shared interests.
They married four years later.
“It was just like we were meant to be together,” Koldenhoven said.
With a natural talent for math and engineering, he got his start in the oilfield in 2012 at Unit Drilling Company, later acquired by Cactus Drilling Company.
“His brother referred him in,” Koldenhoven said. “Then his brother left to pursue his own business, but Dan stayed because he just kept working his way up really quickly.”
Starting at the bottom as a floor hand, he quickly advanced. For the last three years, Koldenhoven said he held the position of tool pusher, managing the entire operation.
“It's a lot of mathematical equations, a little bit of physics and chemistry,” Koldenhoven said. "He did well with that. He was always in the top 5% of the classes he took.”
‘Taking Care of His Guys’
The schedule was demanding, Koldenhoven said, with her husband spending 14 days working on rigs across several states before driving home for a 12-day break with his family.
Still, Koldenhoven said his time away never diminished his bond with their children.
“He was an amazing dad,” Koldenhoven said. “Very hands-on.”
But his devotion wasn't limited to his home life. During those two-week hitches on the rig, Koldenhoven said her husband built a home away from home, treating his crew like a second family.
“He took a lot of pride in taking care of his guys,” Koldenhoven said. "Making sure that they had the best of everything, making sure they were trained properly. A lot of people wanted to work on his crew specifically.”
That care for his team went hand-in-hand with his love for the rig itself, which Koldenhoven said was where he poured so much of his time, energy, and heart over the years.
‘Wanted To Help’
Weeks after his passing, Koldenhoven said she and the kids are still struggling to process the sudden void in their lives.
“I don't think it's quite hit yet,” she said. “We still don't really feel like it's real.”
Support from the local sports community quickly poured in for her two children. At a championship game in her son's youth flag football league, organizers arranged for their daughter to run the ball into the end zone, a gesture Koldenhoven said brought a moment of pure excitement during a heavy week.
“She was all excited about it,” Koldenhoven said. “It was just to support and encourage her to keep going. And let her know how proud they were that she was still out there a couple days after her dad had passed away.”
That same community warmth answered another call when Koldenhoven posted on social media asking if anyone with a 3D printer could build a replica of her husband's rig for his memorial.
Terry Steege, co-founder of BonTer Creative, a custom design and 3D printing studio in Pine Bluffs, told Cowboy State Daily that a handful of people tagged his company and their gift shop, Buckin’ Buffalo, in the comments of the post.
At first, Steege didn't read the full post and assumed it was standard customer inquiry for a custom build.
“I didn’t realize what had happened,” Steege said. "As soon as I did, my wife and I wanted to help her and her family. It was a small thing to do but we just wanted to help her. She’s going through a lot right now.”
Bringing the Rig Home
Steege printed the custom miniature rig and drove it up to Cheyenne on Wednesday night to deliver it directly to Koldenhoven and her children.
“I don’t know how they’re being as upbeat as they are during this situation, just awesome people,” Steege said. “It’s awful what happened and I hope they can get some comfort.”
Steege insisted on donating the miniature rig.
“I offered to pay several times,” Koldenhoven said. “They wouldn't take any of the money. Just another example of how great the Cheyenne community is.”
Koldenhoven said the finished product is “amazing,” and needs just one finishing touch.
“The 3D printer printed the model gray,” Koldenhoven said. “We’ll paint it this weekend with the kids, so they have a part in making this special.”
The finished model will take center stage as the family prepares to bring together everyone whose life he touched.
"He was a great guy,” Koldenhoven said. “So many people love him. It's going to be a really large turnout for his celebration, or memorial. I don't really like calling it a memorial, but essentially it's what it is.”
Emma Jane Jackson can be reached at emma@cowboystatedaily.com.
