Man kicked in face by horse dies

A Lawrenceburg man died last Thursday, 10 days after being kicked in the head by his horse.

Franklin D. "Cracker" Holt Jr., 69, of 1705 Jenny Lillard Road, was feeding his 3-year-old horse on Aug. 13 when it apparently was spooked and kicked him in the face, his wife of 40 years, Judy, said Monday afternoon.

The blow caused him to fall and break his hip. His wife said he likely laid there for a while, but was able to retrieve his cell phone and call her for help.

"I was in Frankfort and he was able to tell me what happened," his wife said. "He asked me to call an ambulance."

Due to the severe injury to her husband's face, paramedics had him airlifted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center, where he underwent surgery on his hip, his wife said.

"The surgery apparently went fine," Judy Holt said. "But when they were getting ready to move him to Cardinal Hill [Rehabilitation Hospital], he ended up having a blood clot and he died of a heart attack."

His wife said the nickname "Cracker" was how most people knew her husband. She said it was given to him when he was 6 because of his love for peanut butter and graham crackers.

"He still ate it every day, so it sort of stuck with him," she said. "His friends and family all called him Cracker Holt.

Born in Mercer County on Nov. 30, 1938, Holt was an avid farmer and gardener who worked as a cheese maker and lab technician for Kraft Foods, and part time at Kentucky River locks numbers five and six. He also worked in maintenance and mowing for the Anderson County Board of Education.

Gardening and farming, though, were his true loves, his wife said.

He had a green thumb, she said. He loved his farm and at one time raised tobacco and cattle, but he also always raised a wonderful vegetable garden. Im looking at some of his tomatoes right now, and theyre some of the biggest youve ever seen.

His wife said his pride and joy was his grandson, Zachary Toles, 10, a student at Emma B. Ward Elementary School.

She said he was also very close to his border collie, Bobbi.

She was his playmate, his wife said. Shes very intelligent and rode on the tractor with him or in his truck. When he was outside working, she was always right there beside him. She was very protective of him.

His wife said her husbands best friend was Donny Simpson, who worked with him at Kraft Foods.

They were friends for about 35 years, she said.

His wife said he went to McDonalds each morning when he went to work for the school system.

Hed go in there and tell jokes and cut up with the people in there, she said. When he stopped working for the schools, people would call and tell him to come back to McDonalds and entertain them.

Services were Aug. 23 at Ritchie & Peach Funeral Home. The Rev. Jim Wheeler officiated the ceremony.

Holt was cremated following the service.