James Allen "Jim" Ahrenholtz
December 26, 1938 — April 13, 2019
Jim Ahrenholtz
Lived a beautiful, full and loving life.
On December 26th, 1938 Jim was born into the amazing family of Peter and Sallie (Jedele) Ahrenholtz on the family farm near Defiance. When he was young the family moved to the farm south of Denison where he grew up with three brothers and four sisters who certainly kept their parents busy. There was no arguing among the kids because if it did occur there was a hoe in hand to take care of the watermelon thistles. Jim and siblings were all expected to participate in the responsibilities on the farm. High school years were fun and surely mischievous at Denison High School. His senior year Jim worked at the Denison Seed House, followed by working at the Crawford County Bank, REC and then being drafted into the army for two years. After the draft, while obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration at Westmar, he met a some very good looking young ladies who were identical twins and started dating Karen Hutchison.
Karen and Jim got married on August, 27th 1965 and started their home together in Hinton where their first child Jill Ann was born in September 1967 and passed away a few months later. Their second child Kipp Allen was born in November 1968. Jim and Karen moved to the homestead in 1970 to farm and care for the land and began making improvements to the farm house. Kipp passed away in January of 1972 after much care and love was provided by them. The following month, Jim became office manager at the Denison Municipal Utilities where he became well liked and loved in the community.
In August 1973 daughter Patricia Lynn was born with a big red curl on top of her head matching her dad’s red hair. Farming was done along with his city job. Cows were added to the farm and Jim particularly enjoyed the baby calves. Son Jay James was born in November 1974 with the same sweet temperament as Jim. The family enjoyed many fun times together on the farm both adventuring and working. Jim was sure to be involved with the kids school activities and especially 4-H where he always said we haul half the farm to the fair when it was fair time. Trail rides with the horses, castrating pigs, sheering sheep, walking beans, making fence, and of course hoeing thistles along with many other farm activities were done as a family and made as fun as possible. Jim had such a love for his kids that he bought a boat and forced himself to overcome a huge fear of water so that they could enjoy skiing throughout the summers.
After 33 years of employment at the Denison Municipal Utilities Jim retired from a job he loved because he didn’t want to learn a new darned computer system. Retirement years were filled with continuing farm improvement projects like he and Karen tinning the barn over two summers, delivering cars for Adams Motors, participating in many church functions, bicycle rides with Karen, and helping Jay and Patricia with many many projects – some of which he thought were crazy but was always there to help. Jim always made time for fun activities whether it be chauffeuring on kayak adventures, driving the boat, and making sure there was always time for family vacations.
Grandchildren, Jamison and Avery, were the sparkle in his eyes. He loved giving tractor rides, taking them fishing, showing off his new baby calves, putting up a tree house, and even made a swing in the hay mow for winter fun. There were fun family gatherings of hiking in Sedona, soaking in hot springs in Colorado, exploring the islands of Hawaii and a five week trip to Alaska with Karen. Family was so important to Jim.
Jim enjoyed amazing health and was said to run circles around a lot of guys much much younger that he. Projects sometimes became bigger than anticipated in order to get it done right despite the extra effort it would take. He passed away on the farm doing what he loved. Jim and Karen spent the afternoon rebuilding a fence by the barn, after tea time he decided to walk out and check on a cow that liked to hide its calf. Karen found him laying down in the pasture looking up at the clear blue sky with a beautiful loving smile on his face.
Family and friends have truly been infinitely blessed by the life and spirit of Jim Ahrenholtz.
Lived a beautiful, full and loving life.
On December 26th, 1938 Jim was born into the amazing family of Peter and Sallie (Jedele) Ahrenholtz on the family farm near Defiance. When he was young the family moved to the farm south of Denison where he grew up with three brothers and four sisters who certainly kept their parents busy. There was no arguing among the kids because if it did occur there was a hoe in hand to take care of the watermelon thistles. Jim and siblings were all expected to participate in the responsibilities on the farm. High school years were fun and surely mischievous at Denison High School. His senior year Jim worked at the Denison Seed House, followed by working at the Crawford County Bank, REC and then being drafted into the army for two years. After the draft, while obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration at Westmar, he met a some very good looking young ladies who were identical twins and started dating Karen Hutchison.
Karen and Jim got married on August, 27th 1965 and started their home together in Hinton where their first child Jill Ann was born in September 1967 and passed away a few months later. Their second child Kipp Allen was born in November 1968. Jim and Karen moved to the homestead in 1970 to farm and care for the land and began making improvements to the farm house. Kipp passed away in January of 1972 after much care and love was provided by them. The following month, Jim became office manager at the Denison Municipal Utilities where he became well liked and loved in the community.
In August 1973 daughter Patricia Lynn was born with a big red curl on top of her head matching her dad’s red hair. Farming was done along with his city job. Cows were added to the farm and Jim particularly enjoyed the baby calves. Son Jay James was born in November 1974 with the same sweet temperament as Jim. The family enjoyed many fun times together on the farm both adventuring and working. Jim was sure to be involved with the kids school activities and especially 4-H where he always said we haul half the farm to the fair when it was fair time. Trail rides with the horses, castrating pigs, sheering sheep, walking beans, making fence, and of course hoeing thistles along with many other farm activities were done as a family and made as fun as possible. Jim had such a love for his kids that he bought a boat and forced himself to overcome a huge fear of water so that they could enjoy skiing throughout the summers.
After 33 years of employment at the Denison Municipal Utilities Jim retired from a job he loved because he didn’t want to learn a new darned computer system. Retirement years were filled with continuing farm improvement projects like he and Karen tinning the barn over two summers, delivering cars for Adams Motors, participating in many church functions, bicycle rides with Karen, and helping Jay and Patricia with many many projects – some of which he thought were crazy but was always there to help. Jim always made time for fun activities whether it be chauffeuring on kayak adventures, driving the boat, and making sure there was always time for family vacations.
Grandchildren, Jamison and Avery, were the sparkle in his eyes. He loved giving tractor rides, taking them fishing, showing off his new baby calves, putting up a tree house, and even made a swing in the hay mow for winter fun. There were fun family gatherings of hiking in Sedona, soaking in hot springs in Colorado, exploring the islands of Hawaii and a five week trip to Alaska with Karen. Family was so important to Jim.
Jim enjoyed amazing health and was said to run circles around a lot of guys much much younger that he. Projects sometimes became bigger than anticipated in order to get it done right despite the extra effort it would take. He passed away on the farm doing what he loved. Jim and Karen spent the afternoon rebuilding a fence by the barn, after tea time he decided to walk out and check on a cow that liked to hide its calf. Karen found him laying down in the pasture looking up at the clear blue sky with a beautiful loving smile on his face.
Family and friends have truly been infinitely blessed by the life and spirit of Jim Ahrenholtz.
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