Leo Holt

Early last Friday morning on June 10, 2011, Putnam City Optimist Coach Leo Holt’s heart finally gave out on him. He still had his same youthful heart and spirit; but it was just in that tired old body of his. And it wasn’t from eating too many hotdogs at all those ball parks all those years; he was skinny as a rail. Maybe it was just his time.

Knowing the inevitable was about to happen, his first thought was to Margret, his beloved wife , best friend and partner of 46 years and his 2 granddaughters, Tiffany and Jessica. But his second thought must have been to all his baseball and softball players. He would have wanted to thank them for letting him teach them all those years, and for letting him become friends with all of them.

He was born in 1927 in Caney, Kansas. He had a big family, and his dad was actually a pretty good inventor. He lost his mom tragically when he was a little boy, and when the Depression hit, he, along with his brothers and sisters had to move into an orphanage. He said his favorite Christmas memory was when he got a brand new basketball. His 8 kids and step kids’ favorite Christmas memory was when he showed them how to make Christmas tree ornaments by dipping sycamore bulbs in silver paint. Then him running outside in the wee hours of Christmas morning looking up on the roof and yelling: “I don’t care WHO you are, get those reindeer OFF my roof!”

When he was nineteen, he joined the Marine Corps. (It was either that or becoming a Catholic priest). He played the bugle on the island of Guam as a part of Marine’s Drum and Bugle Corp, and he was waterproofing his tent before the Invasion of Tokyo when they dropped the Bomb on Hiroshima, ending the War.

When Leo came back from the war, he got married, had four kids and went to college, where he eventually earned a Doctor of Chiropractic. However, the times back then were not as enlightened as they are now, so he could never make a go of it as a Chiropractor. When his first marriage didn’t work out either, he remarried Margret and stayed by her side for 46 years. He would ultimately take a job as a humble postman (in the richest part of Nichols Hills no less) where delivered mail until he retired in 1985. And in his last 4 years worked at Wal-Mart as a greeter. What a perfect job for a man that never met a stranger.

So, maybe Leo came to see coaching Little League Baseball and Softball as a substitute for a Chiropractic practice. And what a practice! He coached ball for more than fifty years…that’s over fifty seasons, fifty teams … more than a thousand kids at least? And how many games? How many ball fields? How many memories?

Almost everyone has a little league coach, but I doubt if many are like Leo... the good ones are usually someone’s dad or mom; someone who’s decent, someone who’s goofy, and someone who even gets tough on you. Leo was one of those good Little League coaches. He loved to coach, most of his teams didn’t include his own sons. First of all, he was someone who always showed up early, stayed late, drove kids home or just took them to his. On top of that, he was really smart, and who really knew the game well. He could teach the game well, and his players learned the game well from him.

The closest he ever really came to coaching a player who ended up in the pros was with Bob Shirley. Bobby was just another kid in the neighborhood, but who always played for those hated Satellites, (OKC Mayor) Mick Cornett’s dad’s team.

A lot of Leo’s players did end up on high school teams, a few even got full scholarships. But he could still remember every single kid who ever played for him. He could probably even remember which number they wore.

How many other folks do that?

Here’s to Coach Leo Holt, someone whom so many of us grew up with, and whose lives are better because of him.

Leo was preceded in death by his parents, John Thomas and Ruth Holt; and step son, James Ridley. He is survived by his wife Margret; children, Mike, Linda, Dana, Susan and John; step children, Ann Riley and William Ridley; brother, Jerry Holt; and many beloved grandchildren, great grandchildren, and friends.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Leo Holt Memorial Fund, c/o Oklahoma Educators Credit Union, 7230 NW Expressway, Oklahoma City, OK 73132.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 AM Wednesday, June 15, 2011, at Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church, 7336 W. Britton Rd, Oklahoma City. Interment will follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens.