- Date Of Birth: April 17, 1931
- Date Of Death: March 24, 2021
- State: Arizona
Alan Charles Hoelsch
“Poppers”
Alan was born in Syracuse, New York on April 17, 1931 to his parents Edward Henry Hoelsch and Elizabeth (nee Hastings) Hoelsch. He had one sister, Shirley Moore, and no aunts, uncles, or cousins.
His family lived in Pound Ridge and Utica, New York before, as Alan claims, he was “dragged to Phoenix” with his mom in his teenage years after his parents divorced. Alan attended St. Francis Xavier Elementary School when it was on the Brophy campus while Brophy was shuttered during the Great Depression. As he was a bit of a rebel student during those years, he often pondered whether “his boomerang was still in the bell tower.” Alan attended St. Mary’s High School in Phoenix briefly, before moving back east to finish high school. He graduated from Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island in 1949, which is a private Catholic High School that operates through the tradition of Brothers of the Sacred Heart.
When his father was remarried to Madeleine Hamel in June of 1944, Alan gained a wonderful stepmother, two half-brothers Edward and Robert Hoelsch, and a half-sister Geni Elliot.
After high school out east, Alan moved back to Phoenix and joined the United States Air Force for three and a half years as a mechanic for the B50 bomber. Although he never talked much about either, he received the Korean Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal.
After the Korean Conflict, he worked at a gas station and at his stepfather’s bar, the New Yorker, in downtown Phoenix. Around 1957, he met his future wife, Clarine Denney, and they married a year later in Las Vegas, Nevada. Alan gained two brothers-in-law and four sisters-in-law, as Clarine was one of seven children. Their daughter Alison was born in 1959, son David in 1963, and son Michael in 1966. They first made their home in Glendale, Arizona, where Alan worked for Western Electric and was a Reserve Officer with the Glendale Police Department.
Alan was a graduate of Arizona State University in 1967, with a BS in Electrical Engineering.
As an avid outdoorsman, Alan took his family on countless outings in his yellow Jeep pickup with a “Dreamer” camper. The family spent many summers camping in the White Mountains and at West Fork of the Black River and fishing at Big Lake, Reservation, Driftfence, and Pacheta Lakes in Arizona. All his kids learned to fish, enjoyed a roaring campfire, swung on a huge Ponderosa Pine tree, and played Yahtzee/Dirty Marbles with all the relatives. The pickup and camper were later replaced with a Suburban and a Nomad travel trailer.
When he retired in 1988, Alan began to build a modest three-bedroom home on a lot in north eastern Arizona that he and Clarine bought. After the house in Show Low was constructed, Alan worked as an automotive vehicle delivery driver for Show Low Pontiac in his spare time. He enjoyed retirement in the cool pines with Clarine until her passing in 2005. In 2013, signs of dementia were noticed, and he came to live with Alison and her husband Jeff in Scottsdale, Arizona until summer 2014, when he went into Assisted Living.
Alan was known for his crew cut and full beard. He had a quick wit and for many years, would do the newspaper’s daily crossword puzzle in his head, not writing down the answers.
Alan was practical, frugal, logical, honest, resourceful, a good provider, and a math whiz. He was a master handyman who saved every washer, screw, and nail that he found. Alan had high expectations of everyone, yet he would give anyone the shirt off his back. He loved his family and was extremely proud of his three children and his four “PALZ” (grandchildren Phil, Austin, Lindsay, & Zacharoni). He was known as “Poppers” to his grandkids, which quickly caught on and spread to his close family and friends.
Alan was NOT a socialite, pretentious or showy, nor very expressive with affection (unless it was with his grandkids whom he adored), or fussy about what food he ate- except for peanut butter which HAD to be Skippy! (and his beer HAD to be Old Style!)
Alan was pre-deceased by his wife of 47 years Clarine Frances (nee Denney), son Michael Edward Hoelsch, and sister Shirley Jane Moore. His survivors include children: Alison Lynn (Jeff) Meyer of Scottsdale, AZ and David Alan Hoelsch of Jackson, WY; grandchildren Lindsay (Aaron) Feldberg, Austin Meyer, Phil Meyer, and Zach Meyer.
See you later alligator…
…after while crocodile!
