Grant E. Goltz

Grant Eugene Goltz:  January 16, 1943 - April 29, 2024

Grant Eugene Goltz, Renaissance Man, transitioned to another multiverse on April 29, 2024, surrounded by family and friends at his home in Hackensack.  We are certain that his new multiverse contains an enormous shop full of tools, wood, and supplies to make guitars, kayaks, birchbark canoes, sculptures, and beer.

Grant’s legendary talents showed themselves early in his grandfather’s shop in Wisconsin.  He received a degree in Natural Resources from University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point and launched a career as a soil scientist with the USDA Forest Service.  After running out of soils to map in the Chippewa National Forest, Grant turned to art where he won numerous national and international awards for his meticulously crafted bird sculptures. After that, he continues to feed his wood addiction by acquiring and selling exotic woods and crafting magnificent guitars. This led to an annual gathering called Stringfest which brought together guitar makers and musicians from across the country.

In between wood projects, Grant applied his soil science skills to the identification and protection of Native American burial mounds and archaeological sites with his life partner, Christy Hohman Caine.

Grant had many other talents as well, such as making shoes, creating stained glass windows, reproducing copies of artifacts for museums, building birchbark canoes and wooden kayaks, and replicating ancient native pottery. Many of these talents are immortalized in videos available online through Northland Public Television.

Since all of this did not occupy every waking hour, Grant also started to grow hops and to make, as he said, “beer for the neighborhood.”  He generously left us with not only ample kegs, many glasses of which will be raised this summer, but detailed instructions about how to make more of his delicious recipes.

Grant Goltz is survived by Christy, his soul mate of 43 years; his beloved son Jim Goltz and partner Shel Silvernail; sisters JoAnn Vavra and Pamela (Gary) Bertrand; brothers Butch (Linda) Goltz and Ralph Goltz; cherished grandchildren Ben (Kaitlynn) Goltz, Nathan (Heather) Goltz, Aaron (Kyra) Goltz, Andrew Goltz, Tricia Goltz, and Myles Goltz; and numerous great-grandchildren, one of whom carries his name into the future. He was preceded in death by his parents and grandparents, brothers Robert and Dennis, and brother-in-law Frank.

A Celebration of Life, sure to be accompanied by many Grant stories and much music, will be held at his home on June 22nd.

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