Robert F. Holbach

Robert Franz Holbach

October 30,1924 - February 27, 2026

Robert F. Holbach-Beloved husband of the late Rosemary Holbach for almost 75 years; loving father of Barbara (Thomas) Hojnacki, Robert (Susan) Holbach, James (Mary Beth) Holbach, Michael Holbach, Richard (Sandra) Holbach and the late Marie (Gerard) Thomas.

Dear grandfather to 17, Matthew (Leanne) Thomas, Katherine (Kris) Deutmeyer. Mark (Jodie) Hojnacki, Caroline Roesch, Andrea (Doug) Jones, Robert (Rachael) Holbach, Alexis (Matt) Rittler, Allyson (Kyle) Greunke, Melissa (Aaron) Morris, Daniel (Hollie) Holbach, Stephen (Chyna) Holbach, Christopher (Adrienne) Holbach, Megan (Gibson) Arlasky, Jonathan Holbach and Kaitlynn Holbach, He was preceded in death by grandchildren Brittany Holbach and Elizabeth Breede.

Great grandfather to 32, Chelsea Craun, Olivia Holbach, Noah VanZile, Kevin Breede, Laura Flint, Annie Thomas, Maggie Breede, Emily Flint, Teaghan Holbach, Theresa Hojnacki, Zachery Ronning, Molly Breede, Simon Thomas, Elliot Thomas, Alexander Ronning, Alexa Morris, Greta Deutmeyer, Clarity Holbach, Lincoln Holbach, Sully Roesch, Jake Hojnacki, Tillie Deutmeyer, Avery Morris, Brooklyn Morris, Riley Holbach, Weston Holbach, Blake Holbach, Caleb Morris, Jackson Holbach, Amelia Rittler, Raylen Holbach, and Graham Rittler

Great-great grandfather to 4, Grayson and C.J. Coyle, Mia Spagnola and Sophia Craun

Visitation will be held on Friday from 3:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at Cooney Funeral Home located at 625 Busse Hwy. in Park Ridge. Funeral Saturday, March 7, 2026. Family and friends are asked to meet at St. Viator Church, Chicago, IL for Mass at 10 a.m. Interment St. Joseph Cemetery, River Grove, IL. In lieu of flowers, donations to Honor Flight Chicago, 9701 W. Higgins, Suite 310, Rosemont, IL 60018 would be appreciated.

Bob's Story

Robert Franz Holbach was born on October 30, 1924 at home with the assistance of a midwife in a 3rd floor walkup on Sheffield Avenue in Chicago. He was the second child and only son of Franz Holbach and Karolin Bader. He had two siblings, Hermine and Mary. He was named after his father and grandfather. He was known as Robby as a child and later as Bob. He spoke German at home and English in school.

Bob grew up in Chicago, and when he was 5 months old in March of 1925 the family moved to Nora Avenue. He graduated from Norman Bridge Elementary School in January 1939 and Steinmetz High School in January 1943. Bob received a BA in General Business and a minor in Education from Northwestern University in 1956 on the GI Bill.

Bob's chores when he was a kid were delivering eggs from the chickens they raised, working on the farm in South Haven, Michigan and taking the bus with his sister Mary to bring the rabbits they raised to the "lab" at the doctor's office where his mother worked cleaning offices

He worked at the Sass Dairy store where they made 18 flavors of ice cream for .30 cents per hour. When he learned to work the ice-cream machine, he got a raise to .35 cents an hour.

Bob served in the US Army between April 27, 1943 and November 15, 1945 for 2 years and 7 months as a Corporal for the 665th Field Artillery Battalion during World War II. He served in the European theater from February 1945 to July 1945. On D Day, June 6, 1944 Bob was in the hospital in Camp Maxey Texas recovering from a training accident. He attended Chemical Warfare school for a week in Camp Maxey where he had instruction in detection of gases and assisting officers in an emergency. He attended Counter Intelligence school for a week in Oberstwein, Germany, where he had instructions in interrogation of enemy spies and became an interpreter. He instructed recruits at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in Artillery basics and counter intelligence. Battles and Campaigns of his unit were in the Rhineland and Central Europe. He received the following medals and citations: American Campaign Medal, European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal and the Victory Medal from the Order of Leopold.. He was honorably discharged November 15, 1945 from Fort MacArthur California.

In 1947 he met Rosemary Kunz, daughter of Stanley Kunz and Marie Furey at a hike organized by the St. Priscilla's Young People's Club. Bob was 23 and Rose was 21 when they fell in love and married on August 28, 1948 at St. Bonaventure Church in Chicago.

They lived on Wayne Avenue until 1954 when the family of 5 Bob, Rose, Marie, Barbara and Bobby had their own home built on Springfield Avenue in Chicago. They had three more children Jim, Mike and Rich in the next 8 years. Bob and Rose sent all of their children to Catholic schools.

Bob was a newspaper distributor for the Chicago American and Chicago Tribune. First the office was at a garage on Killdeer. In 1955 he moved to the basement office in his home for several years until neighbors complained that he was operating a business in a residential area. For a time he had the newspapers delivered to a friends' garage on Irving Park and got them out to the newsboys. In 1959, he moved the office to Montrose Avenue. He sold the franchise in 1973 and retired from the newspaper business. He became a USPS letter carrier at the age of 49, He preferred the letter carrier job as he got exercise every day and people always looked forward to seeing him bring their mail. He even joined the post office choir. He was happy to leave the headaches of the newspaper business behind. Bob retired from his second career at the USPS in 1989 at the age of 65. Bob and Rose went daily to Independence Park to swim from the first day they were both retired.

Bob Holbach was the guy you wanted on your trivial pursuit team. He could remember all kinds of things. He knew when each of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren had a birthday. Bob was very active at St. Viator Parish, having sung in the choir and was a lector and cantor for over 50 years. Bob and Rose loved to travel and visited numerous countries. By the year 2015 they had been to all but 2 states, South Carolina and Delaware. Most of those travels involved camping with children and or grandchildren to share in the memories. He loved to sing in the post office choir or at church and loved classical music. He has every issue of the National Geographic Magazine in which he took advantage of a lifetime subscription for $150 offered in 1958. This averaged out to approximately 0.18 cents per issue. Bob was a good investor. He collected coins and has an extensive music collection including reel-to-reels, cassette tapes, and records of all sizes most of which were purchased at record shops, thrift stores and garage sales. Music was always on in the background. His favorite card game was Pinochle or 99. He loved WTTW and learning new things. He got his first smart phone in 2015 and at the age of 91 began texting. Up until his last days he was using his computer.

Bob had a life-long goal to remain in his home and live to be 100. He was able to accomplish this with the loving dedication of his family as well as many care givers, in particular Christina and Yvette. In July of 2025, at the age of 100, Bob had the privilege to travel to Europe with The Forever Young Veterans Organization for World War II veterans to retrace his footsteps in France and at The Battle of the Bulge where he served during the end of the war. He was honored as a true hero.