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.