Robert "Bob" Allan Holton's Obituary
HOLTON, ROBERT “BOB” ALLAN Bob was born in New Haven, Connecticut on June 19th, 1936, to parents William and Dorothy Holton and passed away on his 76th birthday at 12:01 am. He is the oldest of three siblings with two younger sisters, Priscilla Barnett, and Nancy Abbate, one cousin, Ronald McEvoy, who was like a brother. He lived in Hamden, Connecticut, graduated from Hamden High School, and then attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn New York, graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Bob was always a hard worker, and started a business in High School with another friend, and was coowner of G&H Lawn Service. Instead of doing a lot of the high school social activities, he worked hard and had one of the most envied cars, a classic 55 Chevy. He didn’t attend college the first year, as his business was so successful, and he enjoyed his ready cash and relationships with his customers. However, I think his family must have encouraged him to attend college, and he went to Pratt to follow in his father’s footsteps, who also was an electrical engineer. While he was in college, he also was in the Naval Reserves, and worked summers at businesses to gain experience in his field. Bob and I knew each other from high school, but never dated until we saw each other at a mutual friend’s wedding. We started dating, and married in 1960. I had two small sons from a previous marriage, and I fell in love with the man that could love my sons and me. He adopted my two boys, and we eventually had three more children. Our sons are Bill and Markie, with 3 daughters, Rick and Deanna with 2 sons and a daughter, Gary and Kim, with a son and daughter, Chris and Mandi with two daughters, and daughter, Lynda and Larry Short with 3 sons. Our first move was to Seaford Delaware, where Bob worked for DuPont Company. We later moved back to Connecticut, to work for a small engineering company, which eventually, merged with Levi Strauss. Our final move was to Richardson, Texas, to a research and development facility for Levi Strauss. He traveled frequently and was later involved in environmental engineering for the stone wash operation. Along, this path of moves, we made many wonderful friends that we still keep in touch with today, and we still have a wonderful group of friends that we keep in touch with from high school and college days. Bob adored his family that grew considerably to include 4 sons and 1 daughter, 13 grandchildren and three great grandchildren (expecting a 4th any day). Bob was always willing to help his children and friends with anything, especially known for his handyman prowess. Bob was the happiest when he could build, design or fix and always had a project. He loved his garage and had numerous tools and taught the children invaluable lessons. He worked for the handyman program at our church for a short while after retirement. I can’t express all the love, respect and admiration I have for my husband. He supported his family in everyway, and was the rock of our family. He always made good decisions, was patient and kind and a wonderful role model. We have had 52 wonderful years together. Alzheimer’s disease is a thief that robbed us of many years we were without Bob, as we knew him, and we traveled the journey with ups and downs, good times and sad times. We are so appreciative for all the people that took part in his care and helped us through this heart-breaking journey. We also gained bonding friendships along the way with other families also suffering with the disease. A memorial service will be held on June 29th @ 3 pm at First United Methodist Church in Richardson.
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