Richard D. Holdren, 79, of Wooster, formerly of West Liberty, died Feb. 4, 2016. He spent the last day of his life in the sunshine and breezes of a rare 60-degree February day and greeted with a smile his hospice caregivers and family members.
He was born Nov. 17, 1936, in West Liberty, to the late Donald and Ellen Hartzler Holdren.
Survivors include two sons, Quinten (Betsy) Holdren of Greensboro, N.C., and Carson Holdren of Bellefontaine; two grandchildren, Iris and Danielle Holdren; and four sisters, Mary (Gary) Johnson of Oxford, Marjory (Ron) Powell of West Liberty, Betty Lapp of Bradenton, Fla., and Ruth (Dennis) Kenny of Chelsea, Mich.
When his parents bought a small farm at the edge of West Liberty in the late 1940s, he acquired a registered Guernsey heifer which he trained to “lead.” They won numerous ribbons at the Logan and Champaign County fairs and at the Ohio State Fair. During the same period, Dick built a small cart to attach to his bicycle which hauled a lawnmower. He became so busy mowing lawns that he had to hire help — his sisters, of course. Dick also had a paper delivery route and, again, hired his sisters to help with Sunday deliveries before attending the West Liberty Methodist Church and collecting subscriptions.
When Dick enrolled at Ohio State, he walked-on the football team during the Woody Hayes era and played three years on the scout team. He earned his undergraduate degree in agricultural engineering and was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. He earned his master’s degree from the University of Maryland.
He was a member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and holds a patent for his invention of a new method of hay making.
In lieu of flowers or donations, plant a tree or a patch of alfalfa in his honor.