John Hotz

John Hotz passed away in Sebring Florida at the age of 86 on January 28th 2024.

John  was born in November of 1937 to Edwin and Emma Hotz in Garden City Michigan. After high school John enlisted in the United States Air Force and worked as a heavy equipment mechanic.

After serving in the Air Force he worked as a mechanic and went to school to get his aircraft mechanics license and also put in many hours studying and flying to acquire his private pilots license.  When his training was completed, John was hired by Zantop Airlines as a flight engineer where he made some great friends and many memories flying all over the U.S and parts of the Caribbean.  John was later hired by General Motors as a general foreman of plant maintenance at the Hydramatic plant in Ypsilanti Michigan and worked there until his retirement in 1999.

John had two children from a previous marriage, daughter Chris and son John.

John later met Shirlee and after a few years of dating they married in June of 1979.  Shirlee had a son (Nick) from a previous marriage and John later adopted Nick in 1983.

One of Johns passions was flying.  He spent many hours flying his own airplanes around Michigan, a few cross country trips to Florida and several trips to the big Osh Kosh air show in Wisconsin with his brother Eddie.  After retirement, John and Shirlee made memories to last a lifetime by traveling all over the U.S in their fifth wheel.  Their favorite destination was the western United States.  With their four-wheelers towed behind, they would explore the mountains and deserts during their fantastic adventures.  Moab Utah was their favorite spot.  They always said that there is nothing like a Moab sky at night.

Johns other hobby besides traveling and flying was restoring classic cars.

John was predeceased by his father Edwin and mother Emma, his loving wife Shirlee, sisters June and Esther, brother Eddie and grandson Michael.  He is survived by his daughter Chris (Mark Griffin) and sons John Hotz and Nick (Karen) Hotz.

John, (Papa or Paco) also leaves behind five grandchildren that he loved dearly, Steven, Nicole, Beau, Hailey and Mitchell and great granddaughter Gulia.

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