Lila Josephine Buchholz

James Elias Huff and Verna Ester Andrew in Tracy (Marion County), Iowa on June 5, 1926, she

was the middle child with six siblings and youngest of three girls. The Huff children grew up in

Boise, Idaho in the 1930’s where her father marketed Maytag washing machines across the

West. He even enlisted Lila and her sisters to sing Maytag jingles on town gazebos and county

fair stages. She graduated from Boise High School in May, 1944 while the Second World War

was raging. She and everyone in Boise pitched in on the home front to help the war effort.

Troop trains traversing the country usually stopped in Boise on their way west or east

and the soldiers who disembarked there found the townspeople welcoming and generous. As

teenagers, Lila and her sisters made meals for the ever-hungry soldiers crammed into the

trains’ coach cars. One of these trains was carrying Donald G. Buchholz of Elmhurst, Illinois.

Apparently, the young Army aviator was so smitten, he followed Lila home from the train station

and hung around her the rest of his life. They were married January 11, 1946 in the chapel on

Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington; there Lila began her career as an aviator’s wife and

homemaker. For the next 28 years, Lila and her husband traversed the continent as flying unit

reassignments kept the family moving; however, the birth of the couple’s children marked

certain military duty stations as more memorable. Lila was a devoted military wife and a

nurturing mother to their four children, three who survive her.

In 1971, Don’s last assignment returned them to Arizona, where Lila embraced Tucson

as their retirement area, since their children were grown. It was there that she discovered her

Christian ministry, knitting blankets for newborn babies and expectant young mothers-to-be.

She knitted thousands from the softest yarn beginning in the early 1980’s and continuing until

2020. She knew the fiber’s feel would be a pleasant memory for any baby wrapped in the

blanket’s comforting folds. Hidden in those folds was a special letter, written to the baby, letting

the child know how much it was loved. Lila so loved babies.

In 2014, Lila and Don relocated to Lone Tree, Colorado to be closer to family. She joined

Jubilee Fellowship Church and continued her Christian ministry, producing scores of blankets.

At 90 years young, Lila, along with other church members, fulfilled a life long dream by

participating in her church’s annual Holy Land pilgrimage.

Preceding her in death were her parents, a son, James Brett Buchholz, her husband, as

well as her siblings. She is survived by three children; David L. Buchholz (Cindy) of Goddard,

Kansas, Leslie S. Forsyth (John) of Castle Pines, Colorado, and Debra M. Furney (Russ) of

Tuscaloosa, Alabama, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Final arrangements are not complete; however, Lila’s remains will be interred in the U. S.

Air Force Academy Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado, next to her husband. In lieu of

flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to Jubilee Fellowship Church, 9830 Lone Tree

Parkway, Lone Tree, Colorado 80124, the United Services Organizations, PO Box 96860

Washington, DC 20077-7677, or a non-profit organization of your choice.