Services were held Sept. 5 at Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home in Jefferson for Robert Charles Holz, 89, of rural Jefferson.
His daughters Kristi Holz, Robin Moberley and Julie Breshears officiated. Honorary bearers were Molly Holz, Deborah Miller, Dean Moberley, Luke Edwards and Catherine Whisenand.
Casket bearers were Joseph Breshears, Asher Breshears, Clark Breshears, Bob Holz, Cali Wolfpack and Jeff Jewett. Interment was at the Junction Township Cemetery west of Grand Junction. Military honors were provided by a United States Military honor guard.
Robert Charles Holz was born on September 29, 1931, at Boone County Hospital in Boone. He was the youngest of five children born to Beth (Schilling) and Henry Holz, both of German descent. He passed away on September 3, 2021 on his farm near Jefferson Iowa.
Robert grew up on the family farm near Grand Junction. As a boy he enjoyed hunting and trapping. A treasured memory was catching a hummingbird with his hands.
He attended Grand Junction School and graduated from high school as salutatorian in 1949. He was ping-pong champion and played tuba during his high school years. He remained friends with many local alumni beyond his 50-year class reunion.
Robert was active in 4-H as a teenager and young adult and professionally showed shorthorn cattle with his brothers. Robert attended Iowa State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry in 1954. While attending Iowa State he was a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, Phi Kappa Phi honor society, Gamma Sigma Delta agricultural honor society and ROTC. Through 4-H, Robert met his future wife, Lynnette Holz. They got reacquainted at Iowa State and began courting.
After college he enlisted in the Air Force and became a Second Lieutenant serving in Alaska during the Korean War.
Robert married Lora Lynnette Downs in 1955. From this union were born three daughters: Kristi Holz, Robin (Dean) Moberley and Julie (Joseph) Breshears. After marriage the couple drove to Alaska along the Alcan Highway where he served in the Air Force in the food service squadron and veterinary support.
Robert continued his education at Purdue University in Lafayette, IN, and earned a master’s degree in animal nutrition. He then started a PhD program at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, but was anxious to return to farming so didn’t complete the degree.
The young family moved back to Iowa in 1960 where Robert farmed with Holz Brothers for a few years. In the mid-1960s he managed the Monsanto plant in Grand Junction for a year. In 1967 he purchased his own farm near Squirrel Hollow Park southeast of Jefferson, where he lived until he passed away. He fed cattle for many years and downsized in later years to grain crops and chickens. He loved gardening, was a Master Gardener and canned much of his own produce. He considered himself to be a husbandman, always gave God credit for making the seeds grow and continually marveled at Creation.
Robert was active in the Grand Junction Presbyterian Church for several years and later joined the Reorganization Latter Day Saint Church in 1972. In his later years he became active in the Hebrew Roots Movement.
He was politically active with the Republican Party, had a passion for our country and Biblical righteousness and considered himself to be a Watchman. In 2018 he participated in the Brushy Creek Honor flight to Washington, D.C. for his military service.
Robert was preceded in death by his wife Lynnette (2016); sister Belva Jewett (Myron); brothers Royal Holz (Marie), Russell Holz and William Holz (Doris); and nephew James Jewett.
He is survived by his daughters and grandchildren Cali (Zak) Wolfpack, Luke Edwards, Deborah (Nathan) Miller, Catherine Whisenand, Asher Breshears and Clark Breshears; and great-grandchildren Elizabeth, Jonathan, Michael and David Miller, Lora Laine, Robert and Starli Moberley, Solomon Schaap, and Calyx Wolfpack; sisters-in-law Jeanette Holz and LaVaras Jewett; and many nieces and nephews.
Memorials are suggested to Hands of Help or Jewish Voice.
