His life started on March 19th, 1931, when he was born to Edward and Glenis Holt. He had an older sister Helen, an older brother Lavern, and a younger brother Duane. Even when he was very young, my Great Grandpa Jack had always worked very hard. He had many good times and memories, but also suffered many hardships. He went through hell and back to say the least. He enjoyed playing baseball, basketball and football during high school at Wanamingo. After graduating, he played for the Cannon Falls Bears baseball team, winning the 1952 state championship.

At only 14, he lost both his father and his sister Helen in an explosion on August 18th 1945. He was down and across the road a ways having lunch with his friends, but his father told him that once he whistled for him, he had to go back to the store that they had owned. After hearing his father's notoriously loud whistle, he started walking towards the store his family owned. While crossing the road, he could see his father coming out of the front door of the store. Still looking at his father, the explosion happened.

It was thought that there was gas leaking in the basement and the hot day caused something to spark. The explosion blew his sister out the back window and into a tree killing her instantly. His father was blown out the front door, landing right by his side painted black with the soot from the blast. After they had seen the devastating incident, the neighbors came rushing to the scene. One of the neighbors drove him down the road to where his older brother Lavern was working and before the car even came to a stop, he jumped out and ran towards him, hugging him and telling him what had happened. Lavern was about 18 years old and just out of high school at the time that they lost their dad and their sister. Soon after the explosion Lavern quickly became the father figure for my great grandpa and Duane. 

Years later my grandpa graduated high school in Wanamingo with the class of 1950. He and Lavern enlisted to be in the Air Force and were soon drafted. After only 4 or 5 months they got a letter saying they had to send one of them back home because their mother Glenis couldn't handle being alone. After a few pointless arguments, they decided that my grandpa would go back home to help out and to bring comfort to their mother. Shortly after coming home, he got a job at Honeywell where he worked from October 6th, 1950 to September 30th, 1986. Honeywell was a company that produced consumer and commercial products and helped design aerospace systems for a variety of different corporations and companies. While working there he worked on parts that helped put the first man on the moon. The team he worked with designed parts that would go on the space capsule. 

After working there for 36 years, he retired on September 30th, 1986. Even though he retired, he still always had some kind of job.  Jack did everything from helping build silos to working part-time at O'reilly's Auto Parts.  All of his life he was pretty hard on his body. This created many hip problems that slowed him down with age. The explosion was pretty hard on his body as well since it left many fragments of glass in his back. Towards the end of May in 2015, he fell down the stairs and broke his leg. After being in the hospital for a bit, they realized that his health had gone downhill. His heat rate quickly dropped and took a sharp turn down a rough road. On June 14th, 2015, at 84 years old, he calmly passed away. The funeral of Jack Donald Holt was held on June 19th, 2015 at First English Church in Cannon Falls with the following Interment with military honors at the Cannon Falls Cemetery.

The memories and stories of my great grandpa Jack continue to get passed on by his loving wife my great grandma, Elenor Holt. They got married on June 26th, 1954 and had three great children. Her and each of them miss him everyday and still visit his grave often. Her whole life she's been great at remembering things and telling remarkable stories. I guess you could say she lives on for my great grandpa to keep his memories alive. Family events and spending time with her close friends keeps her happily busy. While my whole family misses him, we know that his memory will live on forever.