Gary Lee Holtman, 84 of Columbus, MS passed away Thursday, September 19, 2024, at West Point Community Living Center.
Visitation will be on Saturday, September 28, 2024, from 10:00 – 1:00 AM at Lowndes Funeral Home. A funeral service will follow at 11:00 in the Lowndes Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will be at Egger Cemetery, Caledonia, MS.
Gary Holtman was born on a farm in Meadow Grove, Nebraska on December 8, 1939. When he was 8, the family moved to Mill Grove, Missouri. He attended one-room schoolhouses through 8th grade and graduated from Princeton High School in 1957. He joined the Air Force that fall, trained in Radar and Gun Control Maintenance, and was stationed at Columbus Air Force Base. In Columbus, he met Doris Martin and they married on July 15, 1960, and they made their home in Columbus for the rest of their lives. He always said that she was “the love of my life.” After they married, he cross-trained as a B-52 tail gunner. This was during the Cold War so they were on 24-hour missions as the US always had two B-52s in the air circumnavigating the earth. He also served during the Berlin Buildup. He was very proud of his military service.
In addition to the Air Force, he worked as a farm equipment salesman, insurance investigator, ambulance driver and attendant, credit manager at GTR Medical Center (now Baptist Hospital), substitute mail carrier in Hamilton (in his yellow truck), and worked for himself as a mechanic. He loved to work on tractors and could tell from memory how to work on the old ones.
He was preceded in death by – Parents – Louis Holtman, Aurelia Brandt Holtman, Brother and Sisters – Dorothy Holtman, Corrine Holtman Alexander, Bobby Holtman, David Holtman, and Paul Holtman.
Mr. Holtman is survived by his wife of 64 years, Doris Martin Holtman; daughter “ Missy Holtman; son “ Marty (Diane) Holtman; grandchildren “ Joseph Lambert, Rachel Lambert Queen, Emily Holtman Sprouse, and Jacob Holtman; great-grandchildren “ Kennedy Queen and Magnolia Sprouse; sisters “ Joyce Courter and Marie Boyle; and brother “ Roger Holtman.
Pallbearers will be Joseph Lambert, Jacob Holtman, Jason Queen, Nathan Sprouse, Dale Parra, and Andy Grant.
Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children™s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
