Housholder, Vic H.

Civil engineer; U.S. Army officer, Battery D., 129 Field Artillery during World War I.

Vic. H. Housholder was born March 18, 1892 in Columbus, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1915. From 1917 to 1919 he served in the U.S. Army as a lieutenant in Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment, 60th Field Artillery Brigade, 35th Division. In the 1920s he moved to Arizona to head engineering projects and became manager of American Rolling Mills Co. From the 1930s to the 1960s Housholder continued correspondence and visits with Harry S. Truman. In May 1945 he requested President Truman's help in locating his son, Tom Housholder, an Air Force pilot shot down in Germany during World War II. In February 1947 he was a weekend guest in the Truman White House. In February 1948, Housholder again sought Truman's aid in locating his son, Tom. In May 1948 he learned of the discovery of Tom Housholder's grave in Germany. In 1957 he was named Engineer of the Year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. In 1960 he received the Phoenix Citizen of the Year Award, and in 1962 received the Kiwanis International Award for Service to underprivileged children. In 1966 he was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame. Housholder died on March 22, 1971 in Phoenix, AZ.