Robert Holsclaw

Robert Franklin Holsclaw, 86, of Locust, passed away Saturday, May 18, 2019 at Tucker Hospice House in Kannapolis.

Mr. Holsclaw was born December 28, 1932 in Lenoir, North Carolina to the late Franklin Stewart Holsclaw and the late Dora Florence Bush Holsclaw, both now deceased.

He lived in Lenoir and attended city schools, graduating from Central High School in June 1952.  Mr. Holsclaw attended Appalachian State Teachers College in Boone, NC for one year before being drafted into the Army in 1953.

After serving two years in Germany, he returned to Lenoir and married his high school sweetheart, Ernestine Cottrell.  After a honeymoon in Florida, they moved to Arlington, Virginia and Bob entered Capitol Radio Engineering Institute in Washington, DC to study electronic engineering.  Upon graduating in 1958, Bob took a job with Honeywell, Inc. as a contract field technician at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey.

Outside of his job, he enjoyed fishing, golf, and boat racing.  While racing Jersey Speed Skiffs he won the national championship at Red Bank, New Jersey in 1966.

Bob worked for Honeywell for 13 years before moving with his family to Florida and changing occupations.  He took an exam to get a general contracting license and spent several years in the business before taking a job as a building inspector with the City of Coral Springs, Florida.

During his 20 years with the city, he held positions as Chief Building Inspector, Building Official and Director of Building.

Mr. Holsclaw was a member of the Coral Springs Volunteer Fire Department.  In addition to his building department duties he was instrumental in forming the City Fire Prevention Bureau and serving as the Fire Marshal.

Robert served the Building Officials Association of Florida as president in 1992 and 1993 and was also a member of several committees of the Broward County Board of Rules and Appeals.

In February 1990 he was appointed to the Florida Building Codes and Standard Board by former Governor Bob Martinez and served until August of 1983.

In 1992 Robert served on the Florida League of Cities Emergency Management task force and the Hurricane Task Force at the College of Engineering at the University of Florida to develop recommendations for building code and enforcement requirements for the State.

Bob and his wife loved to travel.  They visited most of the states including Hawaii and most of the Canadian Provinces.  In 1992 they booked a tour that took them to Buenos Aires, Argentina and to the tip of South America at Ushuoia on Tierrs del Fuigo where they boarded a ship that sailed across the Crake Passage to Antarctica.  While  on the Antarctica continent they visited several weather stations and international research stations.  On their return voyage they visited in the before flying to Chile for a visit, and flying back to their home in Boca Raton, Florida.

Mr. Holsclaw was a Mason and a member of Boca Glades Baptist Church in Boca Raton, Florida, but recently he had been affiliated with the Pine Grove Baptist Church of Concord.

Bob and his wife, Ernestine Holsclaw, were married for 50 years.  She preceded him in death in 2005.

Mr. Holsclaw is survived by daughters, Lynn McColl Percival and husband Tim of Albemarle and Lisa White and husband, Neal White, of Locust; granddaughter, Hayley White of Locust; grandson, R. J. Rigdon and wife Tara Florence Rigdon of Locust; granddaughter, Lindsay Kooienga  and husband, Eric of West Palm Beach, Florida; great granddaughter, Maddie Rose Rigdon; great grandson, Aiden Kooienga; sister, Jewel Kalin of Ocala, Forida; niece, Cindy Jacobs and nephew Kyle Logan.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, 1901 Brunswick Avenue, Suite 100, Charlotte, NC 28207.

Hartsell Funeral Home of Midland is serving the Holsclaw family.

Online condolences may be made at www.hartsellfh.com