VELMA HOLM

VISION Award - Velma Holm

Story by dalondo moultriePhotos by Felicia Frazar & dalondo moultrie

Years of driving a van for a living led to retiree Velma Holm volunteering and driving a 15-passenger van over the last 11 years for the Guadalupe County Veterans Services, shuttling veterans to medical appointments. For her tireless aid to area vets, Holm was chosen as a 2022 Seguin Gazette VISION Award winner.

A little over a decade ago, Velma Holm began volunteer work that was sort of an extension of what she did for a living before retiring a few years prior.

She never thought doing what she found herself good at and what she enjoyed would lead to being recognized as a 2022 Seguin Gazette VISION Award winner.

“I’m very surprised for one thing and I don’t want to say proud because that doesn’t sound good,” she said. “I just feel fortunate that I am able to do something for somebody else and I enjoy that a lot.”

Holm moved to Seguin more than 40 years ago with her husband. Previously, she lived in Illinois where she was born and raised and where her husband worked at Motorola before the plant closed, Holm said. The couple visited friends in this area and he received a lucrative job offer that prompted the move to the Lone Star State, Seguin in particular.

They haven’t looked back since, she said.

“It was really the best move we’ve ever made,” Holm said. “Even though all of our family is in Illinois, we have a church family at Grace Lutheran. Our sons were involved in church there and youth group. It just made us feel welcome we were here.

“Financially and all the way around, it was a very positive thing to do.”

It’s been a positive thing for veterans in Guadalupe County.

After working for years driving a van for USAA Insurance, Holm retired and then, a few years later, started driving a van again. Now she drives as a volunteer for the Veterans Service Office at the Guadalupe County Justice Center.

She shuttles around veterans, making sure they get to their medical appointments on time in San Antonio and other places around the area.

“Just the idea that I can help people get to where they’re going and making sure they’re safe getting there means a lot to me,” Holm said. “I’ve made a lot of friends. I enjoy the companionship and I enjoy what they talk about.

“It’s very special to me.”

Holm’s 11 or so years of service driving veterans is why Joyce Engelhardt nominated her for the VISION Award. Holm has been a consummate professional yet she doesn’t get the recognition she may deserve, Engelhardt said.

Along with that, the program helping the vets doesn’t receive the attention maybe it should, Engelhardt said.

“A lot of people don’t know, veterans don’t know this service is available,” she said. “She’s very patient with these old guys. Sometimes they can be a pain but she takes care of them with great love and appreciation.

“She’s just kind of an unsung hero.”

Holm has taken Engelhardt’s 90-year-old husband to appointments, helped him get COVID-19 vaccination shots and more. The volunteer’s prowess behind the wheel is evident to Engelhardt’s husband, as is Holm’s skills navigating, Engelhardt said.

Just the idea that I can help people get to where they’re going and making sure they’re safe getting there means a lot to me.

“She loves traffic, my husband says. She can drive in San Antonio,” Engelhardt said. “We’ve had her drive us to the airport and different places. She just knows what she’s doing. She’s not afraid of getting out there.”

Currently, Holm said she enjoys the volunteer work and has no plans to quit. In fact, she hopes she never has to stop.

Her altruism goes even further. Not only does she want to keep driving the vets, but she wants even more to climb aboard.

“I just want everybody to know the veterans have a way to get to San Antonio,” Holm said. “I’m not sure some of them know that or not. It’s a volunteer service. All they have to do is call the Justice Center and get connected with Nancy Russell.

“They’ll set it up so they’ll have a ride wherever they need to go.”