Obituary of Stanley Holt

HOLT: In respect and remembrance of my Dad, George Stanley Holt, known to most as "Stan". Dad was born on November 9, 1917 above a rooming house at Estuary, SK. Born to George Holt, an immigrant from Belgium who was a brick maker by trade. His mother, Mildred Jane Holt (née Brown,) was a housekeeper and a suffragette from Orillia, ON. The family moved from Estuary to a farm in Fillmore, SK. They traded a house and five lots in Estuary for the farm three miles of Fillmore. They farmed there and dad worked odd jobs off the farm to help ends meet. However, then the drought came. His parents were able to sell and purchase another farm in the Halboro District here in Manitoba. Dad and his good friend, Fred Muligan, road a total of four horses across country to Manitoba, sleeping in barns or under the trees along the way. It took them ten days to arrive in Neepawa. His mother and father came by rail to Neepawa with their possessions, three cows, plus some machinery. After getting settled on the farm in the Halboro District, dad began to work for local farmers for $15.00 per month. Dad joined WW2 when it began, and for six years he was overseas. He was a ordnance officer riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Dad was in charge of five 10 ton Mac Trucks and tanks. Upon returning home from overseas, he continued to find odd jobs - anything from war assets clerk at the Neepawa Airport, pouring sidewalks for the town of Neepawa, building a bank vault, and also becoming an Imperial agent, which moved him to Gladstone. Dad moved his family to the Forrest area in 1961, after acquiring a job with Mel Hatch Imperial Oil. His first wife, Marjorie Jean Hunter, was tragically killed in a train/car accident just north of Brandon. He was devastated, he now had two children to raise on his own. In 1978, dad married Kaye Bickerton McKinnon. Dad and Kaye bought Harold's Electric. Upon retiring from Harold's, he acquired a job with the Victoria Inn as a maintenance man. Dad was a man of many hats during his 96 years here on earth. Dad was a founding member of the Common Wealth Air Training Museum, a UCT member, a Legion member and a World War 2 Veteran. Stan is survived by his daughter Wendy (Bob) Martens, grandchildren Angela Goddard and her fiancé Kelly Wagner and children Hunter and Kaden Goddard, grandson Steve Gradwell (Alisiaha) Carew and children Mylia and Tarran and grandson Wayne Gradwell. Son Ken Holt and family. His wife Kaye, step-son Don McKinnon, Don's wife Penny and children Jarret and Jennifer. Step-son Brad and wife Kim. Dad was predeceased by his mother and father Mildred and George Holt, his brother Bill Holt, his first wife Marjorie Jean Hunter Holt and infant grandson James. A graveside service was held in the Veterans' Section at the Brandon Cemetery on October 15, 2014 with Rev. Joe Ball officiating. Active pallbearers were Jarret McKinnon, Blake Hamilton, Joel Hamilton, Ian McKay, Steven Gradwell and Angela Goddard. The family would like to thank everyone who was in attendance. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Stan may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, Unit 3-824-18th Street, Brandon, MB, R7A 5B7 or to Kidsport, Sport Manitoba - Westman Region, Room 146, 340-9th Street, Brandon, MB, R7A 6C2. We will miss you dad and all of your fascinating stories.