Paul F. HOLDEN

HOLDEN, KENDALL, FARMER, GIBSON, KELSEY, DOWNES, STETZ, CLAGETT, RUCK

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 1/20/2007 at 11:21:48

PAUL F. HOLDEN, 84, Van Wert, Ohio, died April 10, 2006, at Parkview Memorial Hospital, Fort Wayne, Ind. He was born May 27, 1921, in Lima to Richard V. and Lucille Kendall Holden, who preceded him in death. From the age of 1, he was raised by his paternal grandparents, Frank and Sarah Holden, who also preceded him in death. On June 10, 1940, in Ohio City, he married Virginia M. Kelsey. On Dec. 24, 1955, in Angola, Ind., he married Leta Downes, who died Jan. 18, 2004. Mr. Holden retired in 1987 from security work in South Bend, Ind. He had spent most of his life in the trucking industry. After selling his equipment he served as chief of police in Goldfield, Iowa, from 1975 to 1978. He attended Van Wert schools through his freshman year and his sophomore and junior years at Delphos Jefferson High School. He was a member of American Legion Post 370, Goldfield, Iowa, the Disabled American Veterans and the Iowa Chiefs of Police Association. He was an Army veteran of World War II, serving in the European Theater, where he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. He was discharged on Oct. 26, 1945, from Percy Jones Hospital, after breaking his back in the campaign across the Rohr Valley. He had recently returned to Van Wert after living the last 20 years in Iowa. He had also lived in Chicago.

He had three children with his first wife. Survivors include a son, Larry James (Linda) Holden of Convoy; a grandson, Steve (Shelly) Holden of Convoy; a granddaughter, Kimberly (Jeff) Farmer of Rockford; five great-grandchildren, Derek, Ashley and Matt Holden, all of Convoy, and Tyler and Jordan Gibson, both of Rockford; two stepsons, Duane (Arlene) Downes of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Gerald Downes of Marion, Ind.; a brother-in-law, Kyle Gibson of Sacramento, Calif.; a sister-in-law, Alice Stetz of Eagle Grove, Iowa; and an aunt, Margy Clagett of Clarion, Iowa. He was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Sandra Sue Holden; a son, Barry Richard Holden; a stepson, William Downes; a brother, Robert Holden; a stepsister, Evelyn Ruck; and his stepmother, Edith Holden. Private services will be held at a later date. Burial will be in Troy-South Cemetery, Eagle Grove, Iowa. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation, P.O. Box 515, North Hampton, MA 01061-0515. Arrangements are by Cowan & Son Funeral Home, Van Wert.

Lima News, The (OH)
April 13, 2006