Morris J. Holtzclaw

Morris J. Holtzclaw, age 93, of St Petersburg, Florida, passed away peacefully at home on August 17, 2025.  On November 12, 1931, he was born and then raised in Stanford, Kentucky and graduated from Crab Orchard High School, Crab Orchard, Kentucky, in 1949.  He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Asbury College in Wilmore Kentucky, a Master of divinity degree from Emory University, Candler School of Theology, Atlanta, Georgia, and a doctor of ministry from the Pittsburg Theological Seminary.  

Before attending college, he enlisted in the Air Force in January 1951 and served as an airborne radar and radio operator for the 3rd Air Rescue Group in Japan/Korea from May 1951 to May 1954, during which time he flew 83 combat missions.  He was discharged from active duty in January 1955, and then after college and seminary, he was ordained as a minister of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1958.  He served for a few years as a minister at Inman Memorial United Methodist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, and at the First United Methodist Church of Dunnellon, Florida, before entering the Air Force Chaplain Service through a Presidential appointment in March 1966.  His Air Force assignments included base chaplain at Griffiss Air Force Base, NY in 1966; base chaplain at Osan Air Base, Korea, in 1969; base chaplain at Craig Air Force Base, Alabama in 1970; an instructor at the Air Force Chaplain School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama in 1974; Installation Staff chaplain at Tempelhof in West Berlin, Germany in 1977; professional activities officer at the Chief of Chaplains office in the USAF headquarters, Washington, DC in 1980; chief of personnel division in the office of the Command chaplain at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany, in 1984; command chaplain at the Headquarters for the U.S. Air Force Space Command, North American Aerospace Defense Command, and the United States Space Command in Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado in 1987; and finally the Installation Staff chaplain at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in 1990.  Altogether, he served in the United States Air Force for a total of 30 years before retiring as a colonel in July 1992.

Morris’ long and distinguished military career was recognized with two Legion of Merit Medals, five Meritorious Service Medals, four Air Medals, two Air Force Commendation Medals, two Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards, two Air Force Organizational Excellence Awards, a Good Conduct Medal, an Occupation Medal, two National Defense Service Medals, a Korean Service Medal, an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, an Air Force Short Tour Ribbon, three Air Force Long Tour Ribbons, an Air Force Longevity Service Award Ribbon, an Air Force Training Ribbon, a United Nations Service Medal, and a Korean War Service Medal.  

Morris is survived by his loving wife, Marcia Blitch Holtzclaw, daughters Marcelle Rideout and Marisa and her husband, Darrell Pfalzgraf, grandchildren Davis (Lindsey) Rideout, Sean Pfalzgraf, Grant (Stevanie) Rideout, Taylor Rideout, Scott Pfalzgraf, and great-grandchildren Cecelia and Noah Rideout.  Morris was preceded in death by his parents, Nannie Mae (Sutton) and Joseph Pettus Holtzclaw, brother Joe Jr., sister Mary Frances, brothers John and Gene, and is survived by his sister Alma and brother Russell.

Morris enjoyed travelling with Marcia, and they spent years going on cruises (where he would serve as the cruise chaplain) and planning and executing numerous varied and exciting vacations with their children and grandchildren.  While stationed in Europe, he became quite the connoisseur of antique wall clocks and dedicated many long hours to driving with Marcia to early morning flea markets to collect and then subsequently repair and resell them.  Upon their return from Europe, he kept 40 of their “favorite” clocks and kept them running for many years of enjoyment.  Marcia’s favorite hobby was displaying her artistic talent by creating stained glass pieces, which Morris supported by building frames and doing the wrapping and transporting of the precious glass to various art shows during those years.  By far, however, his biggest passion was to spend time with his family, and he instilled in all of us a desire to nurture and deepen those family relationships by gathering regularly and spending vacations together.  He dearly loved his grandkids and was so very proud of and generous to of all of them.  Most of all, his deep, deep love for Marcia continued to grow and became increasingly evident in the later years, when he would often serenade her with “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and propose to her quite frequently – even on the day just before the Lord took him home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to https://www.metromin.org/ (Metropolitan Ministries) in his honor.

There will be an Air Force honors ceremony for the family on September 19 at 10am at the Bay Pines National Cemetery.