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f
 First
Lieutenant John Louis Hotz,
(1917-1988) was born in
Toledo, Ohio on the 31 July 1917 to Edmund David
Hotz and Catherine Anne Kleekamp. A few years later the family returned to
Delphos, Ohio and Edmund and his brother Sylvester converted their father's
saloon into a Hotz's Restaurant. (a fallout from prohibition) John was the
eldest of six (6) siblings... Jim, Ed Jr., Marjorie, Catherine, and Mary.
There were eleven (11) years between John and Mary.
John attended
St.
John's Parochial school in Delphos from 1st grade through high school, graduating in 1935. He went
on to Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio from which he graduated with a
bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1939. John was enrolled in the
Reserve Officer's Training Corps (ROTC) while at Ohio State. He would have
regular weekends at home, hitch-hiking both ways, to see his highschool
sweetheart, Margie Elizabeth Eickholt, whom he married on 30 May 1936. They
had three (3) sons, Don, John, and Wayne. [see
photos]
Following his
graduaton from Ohio State in 1939, he was hired by a company in Cincinnati,
Ohio similar to Procter and Gamble. Mary (his younger sister) recalls him recounting one
interview at the factory, and his friendliness with the blacks at the
factory was commented on by one of the interviewers. (It was a different
time then) John worked at the
factory until called into the service in 1943. He aspired to be a pilot, but
with his limited night vision ruled that out and he switched to Navigator's
school. He was assigned to the Second Emergency Rescue Squadron out of
Navigator's school and flew OA-10A
Serno 44-33884 with Captain Ben Mathis, (Pilot)
Lieutenant Bill Holbrook, (Co-pilot) Staff
Sergeant Charles Bledsoe, (Engineer) Corporal Victor Frank, (Radio Opr) and
Sergeant Robert Littlefield, (Radar Opr) to New Guinea in April 1944. [see
the order]
John was awarded the Air
Medal, [1st and 2nd Oak-leaf Cluster per
G.O. No. 81
dated 12 Jan 1945][3rd OLC per
G.O. No. 162
dated 28 Jan 1945] the American
Campaign Medal, the
World War II Victory Medal, and the
Philippine Liberation Medal.
Upon his return from the war in late 1945, John settled his family in
Long Beach, California and remained there working for Maas Chemical Company.
Later, John and an associate developed a process for cleaning mud from
polluted water. John invented the process, built the machinery, and then was
"screwed" by the associate. (So the story goes) He began working for Shell
Oil Company. In 1956 John was hired by Aramco Oil and moved to
Bahrain to
work in the Saudi Arabian oil fields. Every three (3) years or so he would
return stateside with is wife and youngest son for several months. He worked
in Saudi Arabia for approximately nine (9) years when he returned to the
States and began working for Mobile Oil Company in
Ft. Stockton and then
Midland, Texas. He lived here until he finally retired and moved to
Heber
Springs, Arkansas.
John's health began failing and his lungs were
weakened by fungus, possibly picked up during his time in the South Pacific,
or the desert of Saudi Arabia. His condition was certainly aggravated by
heavy smoking. John passed away in Heber Springs on 17 August 1988 at the
young age of 71.
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