rev. ira e. holt

Rev. Ira E. Holt, 88, of Seymour, safely made his heavenly landing on August 21, 2025.

Ira was born August 13, 1937, in Adair County, KY, to the late John and Minnie (Perkins) Holt.

On August 26, 1955, he married Betty L. Sweet, and they were married for 70 years.

Their marriage was blessed with five children: Judy (Ray) Sims, Cynthia (Jeff) Williams, Steven Holt (Deceased), Mark (Michelle) Holt, and Sherri (Rev. Matt) Price; 9 grandchildren: Stephanie, Scott, Chris, Stacy, Ashley, Stephen, Alex, Shelby and Aaron; and 12 great-grandchildren: Isabel, Cole, Bristol, Keziah, Blakely, Jack, Zemira, Luna, Lincoln, Charlotte, Eowynn, Avon Lea; and one great great grandchild, Aria.
Ira worked for General Motors, Michigan, before fulfilling his dream of working on the railroad.  He was a content railroader at New York Central Railroad, Beech Grove, when he felt God calling him into the ministry fulltime.

Ira left the railroad and completed his ministerial degree at Frankfort Pilgrim Holiness Bible College while embarking on the journey of a lifetime.  Together, Ira and Betty pastored churches throughout Indiana including Richmond, Fulton, New Castle, Columbus, Shelbyville, and Seymour where they retired in 2015, after 50 years of ministry.

While pastoring, Ira also worked in various capacities within the communities in which they lived—running mail routes, assisting with the local ambulance and funeral services, doing construction, serving as administrator for Manitou Training Center in Rochester, IN, and driving school buses for the New Castle and Seymour school systems.

Upon moving to Seymour in 1984, Ira vowed he would never drive a school bus again, but after being ratted out by a couple of neighbors and being contacted by Seymour Community Schools, he stepped back into the saddle of transportation and maintenance until his retirement from SCSC in 2010.

While working for Seymour Community Schools, Ira had the privilege of transporting C-4 students to Columbus, driving the Seymour Owl Express, transporting special needs students and serving as inter-school mailman, banker, and maintenance.  Ira also had the distinct honor—upon the request of the team—of transporting the 1988 Seymour Owls Boys Baseball Team to their state championship victory.

Ira was known for always having a smile, offering a word of encouragement or lending a listening ear to those he encountered on a daily basis.  He would also implement his sense of humor by encouraging his coworkers at difficult times with the saying “Easy Money.”

Ira is survived by his wife, children and grandchildren; beloved Yorkies, Dakota and Kodak; sister Rachel; brother Paul and several nieces, nephews, and friends.

He was preceded in death by his infant son Steven, daughter Cynthia, sisters Agnes and Nora and brothers Lonza, Alvie, and Ernest. 
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A funeral service will be 10:00 a.m., Thursday, August 28, 2025, at Seymour First Wesleyan Church, 101 E. 8th Street, Seymour.  Visitation will be from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 27, at the church and one hour prior to the service at the church on Thursday.  Burial will be in Riverview Cemetery, Seymour.  Arrangements have been entrusted to Community Funeral Care, Edinburgh

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