David Holt

David Holt, 55, of Leawood, KS passed away unexpectedly at home Sunday, October 18, 2015. A memorial service will be held in Wesley Covenant Chapel of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, 13720 Roe Avenue, Leawood KS, at 10 am on Thursday October 22, 2015.

Dave was the son of Denver and Mary Ann (Randolph) Holt, and the step son of Betty Ann (Lindsey Romann) Holt and Sharron (Mahnensmith VanMeter) Holt. Dave was the sixth generation of his family to be born in Missouri. He is survived by his wife Janet (Leuthold), daughter Lauren and son Tom, his father and his stepmother Sharron of Florida, his sisters Rebecca Holt of Florida and Beth Romann (Bob) Jennings of Illinois, and Libbie Jarosz of Georgia, father-in-law David Leuthold of Missouri and brothers-in-law Johnny (Sarah Hartung) Leuthold of Oregon, Ken Jarosz of Georgia and Chris VanMeter of Wisconsin. He is survived also by numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and close family friends. He was preceded in death by his mother when he was sixteen, his step mother (2002), and his mother-in-law, Carolyn Leuthold (2012).

Dave graduated from St. Charles High School in 1978, where he received the Scholar Athlete award. He received his BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1982. After graduation, he went to work for Black & Veatch in Kansas City, Missouri.  Dave started his career designing water and waste water treatment systems for power generation facilities.  Dave advanced through the company to Associate Vice President and Project Manager where he managed all aspects of major engineering and construction projects.  Most of the projects involved cleaning environmental pollutants from power generation facilities to help insure clean air and energy for all.

Dave and his wife Janet met in an honors class at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dave had long legs and excelled at track and cross country in high school and college. Dave was President of the Kansas City Chapter of the Engineering Alumni Association shortly after graduation, and he joined Toastmasters to polish his public speaking skills.

Dave read most every day of his life, often during the lunch hour. He enjoyed the works of science fiction and fantasy authors such as Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Frank Herbert. He and his children coordinated and shared these collections of their favorite authors. He also taught them to appreciate his taste in classic rock music from the days of his youth.

As his children grew he became a soccer coach for daughter Lauren’s team, and a member of the ‘Old Goat Patrol’ with son Tom’s Boy Scout Troop. Dave and Tom enjoyed the hikes and campouts. Dave was also a member of Leawood Rotary which sponsored Troop 10. When the children were in high school, Dave attended their cross country and track meets where they ran the same events that he had run.

Dave, Janet and the children loved to travel, including favorite spots like Yellowstone National Park, Disneyworld, Paris, Tokyo and numerous beaches. They had ‘once in a lifetime’ trips to the 1992 Winter Olympics, the 2000 Super Bowl (which the St Louis Rams won), Beijing, China and Vienna, Austria.

When Dave began working at Black & Veatch he joined the summer softball league and enjoyed the games and camaraderie with fellow engineers and their young families. Later he joined the B&V Skeet Shooting League with the other aging softball players.

He enjoyed hunting, and had deer hunting, pheasant hunting and goose hunting trips planned for this fall. More than anything Dave loved to fish, particularly trout fishing in Montana and Missouri. On the Boy Scouts’ Boundary Waters Adventure Trip he and Tom caught (and released) 78 fish in one day.

Dave was considering early retirement, making plans for a life of trout fishing, hiking, traveling, reading, visiting the kids and volunteering at Church of the Resurrection where he was a member. He is dearly loved and will be deeply missed.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to your charity of choice or Missouri Department of Conservation, Donations Coordinator, PO Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180.