Tom L. Holtzman

Tom Holtzman

Tommy Leroy Holtzman was born May 1, 1951 to Albert and Bonnie (Peckham)

Holtzman in Holyoke, Colorado. He passed away September 10, 2025 at UC Health in

Aurora, Colorado.

Tom attended grade school and high school in Holyoke, graduating in 1969. After

graduation he was employed by Ceres Land Company and later the City of Holyoke. He

was married to Barbara (Klute) Holtzman on November 24, 1979 at the Zion Lutheran

Church in Holyoke. After attending Community College of Denver for a year he

transferred to UNC in Greeley. He graduated from UNC in 1981 with a Bachelors in

Social Science in Teacher Education. He taught 7 th and 8 th grade at Lamar (Nebraska)

Grade School for two years following graduation. He worked for Grainland Coop and

later for Scholl Oil and Transportation until his retirement.

Tom and Barb were blessed with two children: John and Sarah. His family was

extremely important to him and he took every opportunity to spend time with them and

support them. He loved talking about his cars especially his first ones, the 1957 Chevy

in particular. He enjoyed fishing and many times got up a 3 am to drive to Wray to fish

for a few hours, getting home in time for breakfast and church. His nickname for his

niece-like-daughter Jessica was “Gooch”. He coached his nieces and nephews to call

him “Favorite Uncle Tom” and enjoyed teasing all of them.

He had a strong faith, loved his family, and was a long-time member of the Holyoke

Assembly of God Church.Tom had a life-long struggle with different health issues: polio

at 3 1/2, hepatitis, heart attack, prostate cancer and finally mesothelioma. He will be

remembered for his love of life and his determination to do whatever he could to beat

the cancer that invaded his body.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents, his older brother Danny, who died at age

two, and his sister-in-law Marcia (Klute) Sand. He is survived by his wife Barbara of

Holyoke, his son John (Emily) of Windsor, CO and grandson Henry; his daughter Sarah

(Eric) of Bailey, CO and grandsons Ben and Miles and niece Jessica (Derek) Steenson

of Loveland. He is also survived by sisters Mary (Jerome) Gaedke of Wellfleet, NE and

Connie Holtzman of Holyoke; sisters-in-law Sharon (Tim) Lambdin of Aurora, CO, Kathy

(Chris) Nelson of Costa Mesa, CA, and Lois (Andy) Purcell of Fort Collins; brother-in-

law John Sand of Arvada; niece Tracy (Kevin) Booher of Buena Vista, CO; nephew

Jared Gaedke of Wellfleet; nephews Trevor Sand of Arvada, CO and Tyler Sand of Fort

Morgan, CO; niece Gentry Sand of Greeley and great niece Paislee; nephew Jacob

Lambdin of Denver; and nephew Matthew Nelson of Costa Mesa, CA.

Funeral services were held September 20, 2025, at the Holyoke Assembly of God.

Inurnment will follow at a later date.

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