Bernard Christie "Bernie" Holben, 88, of Ostrander, Ohio, died peacefully Wednesday at Arbors of Delaware.

Wherever life took him, Bernie kept busy - as a husband and father.

After learning the machinist trade in the shop of his future father-in-law, he worked at Pittsburgh Steel Drum, Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia during World War II, in the oil fields of Texas, at Ranco in Delaware and at Industrial Nucleonics in Columbus, where he retired in 1978.

He served where he lived, active as a Scout master, Explorer leader, on church committees, heading up Senior Services, a business to employ retired tool and die makers, and for several years as a member of the Washington Township Zoning Board.

He started a hobby of carpentry by building the first gymnastic equipment for Dublin High School. Previous to retiring, he started farming part time, which kept him busy full time for several years.

During all his life he and his wife were active in church work, spending nearly three years working in the Washington Temple. Gradually he became less active except for working in his woodworking shop creating hundreds of gifts to enrich the lives of others.

Born Jan. 18, 1916, in Butler County, he was preceded in death by his parents, Boyd Clair and Lottie May (Christie) Holben; brothers, John, Paul, Eugene, Melvin and Richard; sisters, Gladys Fritch and Margaret Dillon; and son-in-law, Preston Heiselt.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Esther; sons, Dean (June) of Ostrander, Neil (Carol) of Southport, N.C., and Larry (Nancy) of Dublin; daughters, Sandra (Steve) Sheedy and Melissa Heiselt; 17 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; sisters, Alma Smith, Ruth Craig, Virginia (Robert) Parker, and Barbara (Robert) Ross; sister-in-law, Eleanor Holben.

HOLBEN - Friends of Bernard Christie "Bernie" Holben, who died Wednesday Nov. 3, 2004, will be received from 4 to 8 p.m. today atRUTHERFORD FUNERAL HOME, 450 W. Olentangy St. Powell, Ohio. That is on Powell Road ¼-mile east of Sawmill Parkway. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7135 Coffman Road, Dublin, Ohio. Interment will be at Jerome Township Cemetery in Ohio.Memorial contributions may be made in his memory to the Alzheimer's Association of Central Ohio, Delaware Office, 39 W. Winter St., Delaware, OH 43015.