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Robert K. Holmstadt

Robert K. Holmstadt

Robert (Bob) Kenneth Holmstadt, the quintessential family man, passed away at the age of 66 on Saturday, July 5, 2025, at Luther Hospital in Eau Claire.  Bob’s love of family began on October 18, 1958, as the first child born to Kenneth and Gertrude Holmstadt, the first of twelve.  There was nothing Bob loved more than getting together with family and friends, often arriving a little early and leaving as late as he could.  Bob rarely missed a family reunion, wedding, graduation party, or funeral.  And every year, he threw a big family Christmas party with all his siblings and their families. 

But Bob’s greatest joy was his children, their spouses and all his grandchildren.  His smile was never bigger than when he was playing with the grandkids or reading them bedtime stories.  He loved every chance he could get to spend time with them.

Bob also had a lifelong love of reading and learning about how things worked, and in his younger days, he used the family farm as a place to experiment.  Throughout his life, he loved helping other people understand how things worked and had an amazing gift for making the complex easy to understand. Whether it was teaching his younger brothers on the farm, his children, trainees at Silgan Containers or Midwest Manufacturing, or his wife, everyone received his kindness, patience and understanding, and he tried to share his excitement about whatever he was teaching too.  

He married Mary Haroldson in 1996 and changed her life completely by sharing his wonderful children Heidi and Al with her and knitting her into their happy family. Bob and Mary danced their way through 28 wonderful years together and went on innumerable adventures. Their motto was “No road or interesting place should go unexplored,” which is why a simple trip to Bayfield took 3-4 days.   

Bob will be greatly missed by his wife Mary, son Allan (Amy) Holmstadt of Cottage Grove, MN, daughter Heidi (Ron) Vieceli of Hayward, WI, and grandchildren Ellie, Reny, Kenny, Addy, Robbie, and Finley and his best friend James (Dawn) Totzke of Chippewa Falls.  He will also be missed by his mother Gertrude of Hudson, WI, his siblings Leann (Mike) Lifto of Maiden Rock, Cecile (Randy) Pohl of Menomonee Falls, Clarence (Tina) of Chaska, MN, Patrick of Appleton, Gale (Kim) of Ramsey, MN, Bruce (Eileen) of Chippewa Falls, Michael (Kathy) of Hudson, Randy (Valorie) of Plum City, Jeremy (Laura) of Madison, John (Kaylan) of Blaine, MN, Steven (Katie) of Byron, MN, his sisters-in-law Julie Smith of Sugar Camp, WI, Marye Smith of Rhinelander, Diane (Dean) Hinz of Oshkosh, his brother-in-law Leslie Smith, his ex-wife Betsy (John) Wolbert of Menomonie and numerous and very beloved nieces and nephews.

Bob is preceded in death by his father Kenneth Holmstadt and brothers-in-law Peter Smith and Steven Smith. 

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM Saturday July 12, 2025, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Menomonie with burial in the church cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 PM Friday at Rhiel Funeral Home in Menomonie.

Condolences

  1. Jodi Hanson

    I was so sorry to learn of Bob’s passing, my deepest sympathies to all of his family. May it comfort you to know he is now at peace and pain free.

  2. Merlyn Aude

    My thoughts are with your family in this time of morning.

  3. Jean and Arnie Maxwell

    We are so sad to read about the passing of Robert this morning. He was a great cousin to me over the years. Yes, Robert was always a family man and came to all of the family reunions we had at Spring Valley. He always had a smile on his face and a great personality. We will surely miss him. May God give the family strength through this difficult time. Our sympathies to you. Robert is with our Lord and will be looking over us.

  4. Marlene Zimmer

    My sympathies to you Gertie and to your family.

  5. James Dettling

    Sorry to hear about Bob, my condolences to the family, glad I got to see him last summer

  6. PATRICK B Brantner

    I am very, very sorry for your loss. We used to go out and party together at Red Wing meetings, and then while I was trucking, we shared a lot of stories in Menominee at the truck stops. I'm going to miss that guy; I feel bad about not calling him for a while. But now he's up there with god and the angels. Bless his little soul, he was always a happy-go-lucky guy. I sure am going to miss him. God bless you.

  7. John and Patty Wayne

    Our Heartfelt Sympathy goes out to the family.
    Bob was a wonderful person had many wonderful conversations with him. He always made time to say hi, when we met.
    I have known Bob almost my adult life. I raised in porky Porcupine/Sunnybrook inbthe valley from Bib's farm

  8. Jerry and Pat Frion

    So very sorry for your loss. What a fantastic person he was. Hugs to all the family

  9. Joanne Hovey

    Sympathy to Gertie and family.

  10. JoAnn McDonnell

    I am so sorry for your loss Thoughts and prayers to the Holmstadt family.

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