JOHN LOUIS HOLST
March 18, 1924—January 28, 2016
John Louis Holst, 91, of Boulder, CO passed away January 28th, 2016. John was born on March 18th, 1924 to Edward and Dorothy Holst in Pueblo, Colorado. One of 5 children, he grew up during the Great Depression.
John was attending High School in 1942 when World War II broke out. He enlisted in the Army and was selected for Pilot Training in the Army Air Corps. He first served as a single engine flight instructor. He narrowly escaped certain death after volunteering to fly troop-carrying gliders over the Rhine, because: “Some good brave American troops captured an intact bridge at Remagen, Germany and the airborne assault was cancelled”. He flew a C47 for the rest of the war. He flew missions over the European Theatre, including the relief of Bastogne, and helped supply General Patton’s Third Army. His most fulfilling experience during the war was the assignment of humanitarian flights to POW camps to pick up imprisoned British and French troops and return them home. By circumstance, he was on leave in Paris in May 1945, for the celebration of Victory in Europe Day on the Champs De Elysee!
After the war John met and married the love of his life, an Army Nurse by the name of Patricia Ann Edmondson from Clayton, New Mexico. They moved to Ft. Collins and John enrolled at CSU and graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry.
John was hired by Dow Chemical to work at Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant in 1956 in Boulder. He had many roles at the plant including: Analytical Chemist, Plutonium Spectroscopy Group Leader, Shift Superintendent and Special Projects Manager for Plutonium Operations. John was credited with two U.S. patents during his career.
John’s passion was the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Moving to Boulder was, in his words, “moving to paradise.” He loved hunting, fishing, dirt biking and skiing. He was backpacking and fly fishing in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness well into his 60’s. His last dirt-bike trip in Utah was when he was 83 years old.
John was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Edward Holst and his sister Margaret Alley. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Patricia Holst, his brother Jim Holst and sister Dorothy Mendoza, his four children: Peggy Stambaugh (Bud), Sam Holst (Carolyn), Andy Holst (Carla), and Lisa Brennan (John). He has eleven grand children and 2 great-grand children. Family was the light of his life.
Services will be held on Friday March 18th at 11:00 a.m. at St. Martin De Porres Catholic Church, 3300 Table Mesa Drive in Boulder.
Donations can be made to TRU Community Care Hospice, 2594 Trailridge Drive East, Lafayette, CO 80026.
March 18, 1924—January 28, 2016
John Louis Holst, 91, of Boulder, CO passed away January 28th, 2016. John was born on March 18th, 1924 to Edward and Dorothy Holst in Pueblo, Colorado. One of 5 children, he grew up during the Great Depression.
John was attending High School in 1942 when World War II broke out. He enlisted in the Army and was selected for Pilot Training in the Army Air Corps. He first served as a single engine flight instructor. He narrowly escaped certain death after volunteering to fly troop-carrying gliders over the Rhine, because: “Some good brave American troops captured an intact bridge at Remagen, Germany and the airborne assault was cancelled”. He flew a C47 for the rest of the war. He flew missions over the European Theatre, including the relief of Bastogne, and helped supply General Patton’s Third Army. His most fulfilling experience during the war was the assignment of humanitarian flights to POW camps to pick up imprisoned British and French troops and return them home. By circumstance, he was on leave in Paris in May 1945, for the celebration of Victory in Europe Day on the Champs De Elysee!
After the war John met and married the love of his life, an Army Nurse by the name of Patricia Ann Edmondson from Clayton, New Mexico. They moved to Ft. Collins and John enrolled at CSU and graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry.
John was hired by Dow Chemical to work at Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant in 1956 in Boulder. He had many roles at the plant including: Analytical Chemist, Plutonium Spectroscopy Group Leader, Shift Superintendent and Special Projects Manager for Plutonium Operations. John was credited with two U.S. patents during his career.
John’s passion was the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Moving to Boulder was, in his words, “moving to paradise.” He loved hunting, fishing, dirt biking and skiing. He was backpacking and fly fishing in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness well into his 60’s. His last dirt-bike trip in Utah was when he was 83 years old.
John was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Edward Holst and his sister Margaret Alley. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Patricia Holst, his brother Jim Holst and sister Dorothy Mendoza, his four children: Peggy Stambaugh (Bud), Sam Holst (Carolyn), Andy Holst (Carla), and Lisa Brennan (John). He has eleven grand children and 2 great-grand children. Family was the light of his life.
Services will be held on Friday March 18th at 11:00 a.m. at St. Martin De Porres Catholic Church, 3300 Table Mesa Drive in Boulder.
Donations can be made to TRU Community Care Hospice, 2594 Trailridge Drive East, Lafayette, CO 80026.
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