By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Mr. Holder

ANDERSON TWP. - Stuart Strothard Holder, former co-owner and chief operating officer of Landrum & Brown, an aviation consulting company, died Monday at the Deupree Community in Oakley of complications of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. Mr. Holder, of Anderson Township and Lecanto, Fla., was 59.

He was born in Summit, N.J., and received a bachelor's degree in geography from the University of Pittsburgh and a master's in urban planning from Kent State University.

He took his first job as a city planner in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Prior to joining Landrum & Brown in 1973, he was a regional planner working for Spindletop Research in Lexington.

"He was certainly driven and he definitely had a way about how he approached things - he was very focused and determined," his son Clinton of Chicago said. "And he wanted the best for anyone he worked with."

Mr. Holder retired from Landrum & Brown in 1994. He was also a partner in NSG Corp.

In retirement he devoted time to community service as well as enjoying his hobbies: playing trumpet, fly fishing, golfing and cooking. He divided his time between his homes in Anderson Township and northern Florida.

He was a member of Mount Washington Presbyterian Church, where he was a deacon, elder and member of session. He used his professional expertise in planning by serving on the Anderson Zoning Board of Appeals.

He was also a member of the Cincinnati Garden Railway Society, the Cincinnati Orchid Society and a charter member of the Monday Night Big Band.

Creutzfeldt-Jacob is a rare brain disorder that can occur spontaneously. Doctors don't know why it happened to Mr. Holder. "It took him incredibly quickly," his son said. "He was fine at Christmastime."

In addition to his son, survivors include his wife, Sandra Smith Holder; a daughter, Alecia Hatlem of Fort Wayne, Ind.; another son, James Holder of Chicago; and a granddaughter.

A memorial service is 10 a.m. Saturdayat Mount Washington Presbyterian Church, 6474 Beechmont Ave.

Memorials: Alzheimer's Association of Greater Cincinnati, 644 Linn St., Suite 1026, Cincinnati 45203; or the Deupree Community, 4001 Rosslyn Drive, Cincinnati 45209.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com