Keith Wesley Holty

March 23, 1926 - December 14, 2017

Keith W. Holty, 91, passed away peacefully on December 14, 2017 at Gold Finch Assisted Living in Fairmont, Minnesota. His funeral service will be held at Calvary Evangelical Free Church, Spring Grove, Minnesota on Tuesday, December 19th at 11:00 am with visitation prior starting at 9:30 am. Lunch will be served in the reception hall following the internment at the Spring Grove Cemetery. Military rites at cemetery provided by American Legion Post #249 of Spring Grove. Keith, a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, was born on March 23rd, 1926. He was born to Lillian and Alden Holty on Holty Ridge, Caledonia, Minnesota. In 1945, Keith served as a sergeant in the United States Army. He met the love of his life, Peggy Smith, at a youth rally at the 7th street Baptist Church through an introduction from his sister, Lyla (Holty) Thompson. They were married on September 17th, 1955 at the Bethany Evangelical Free Church in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Keith and Peggy raised their family of five children: Douglas, Cindy, Susan (Susy), Nancy, and Julie on a dairy farm west of Spring Grove, Minnesota. Keith was preceded in death by his parents, Alden and Lillian Holty; 2 brothers, Lorren and (John) Frank Holty; one sister, Lyla Thompson; and a brother-in-law, Kenneth Thompson. He is survived by his wife, Peggy (Smith) Holty; brother, Richard (Verly) Holty; sister, Kathleen (Roger) Martin; sisters-in-law, Elaine Holty, Genevieve Holty; son, Douglas Holty; daughters, Cindy (Peter) Milne, Susy (Rick) Olsen, Nancy (Eric) Lewis, and Julie (Mickey) Simpson. He is also survived by thirteen grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. He is remembered by those that knew him as a kind-natured, soft-spoken, light-hearted, gentle man. He loved serving his Lord, spending time with his family, the outdoors, working the fence-line with his children, being silly with grandchildren, and was a life-long member of Calvary Evangelical Free Church. Faith was important to him. He read his Bible every day but more importantly a day did not go by that he didn’t lift his wife and his children and his grandchildren up in prayer. He loved us so much.