GREENSBURG, Ind. – The family of Adam J. Holtkamp is grateful to people who have reached out to help in the wake of his death last month in a farming accident.

A GoFundMe page created in early February had raised more than $26,000 as of press time. Last weekend, a caravan of trucks was scheduled to deliver the family’s 28,000 bushels of grain to the Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. facility in Aurora, Ind. Others have offered to help with planting in the spring.

“A lot of people around here are awfully good-hearted,” said Butch Riedeman, Holtkamp’s uncle. “It’s awesome. I want to say unbelievable. All kinds of people are offering to help. They want to do something. It is greatly appreciated.”

Holtkamp, 34, died Jan. 27 after getting caught in his tractor’s power take-off in what Riedeman called a “freak accident.” He co-owned Holtkamp Family Land and Livestock with his father. The family farms 950 acres and raises about 135 head of cattle. Holtkamp and his wife Jamie have a daughter, Lennon Audrey, and a son due this month.

“He was always just good to everyone,” Riedeman said. “I have friends my age who loved to deal with him. The old and the young liked him. He was one of the people you always wanted to hang out with. He was a very good man.”

Megan Sullivan, Holtkamp’s cousin, created the GoFundMe (www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-adam-j-holtkamps-children) page. Some contributors have been friends or acquaintances, she said, but others have posted such messages as, “I don’t know your family directly but you’re in our thoughts.”

Within 12 hours of creating the page, about half the family’s $20,000 goal had been reached, she said. “It’s wonderful to see how many people care. One reason I started the page is it’s a way for his family to keep in contact with people. 

People can share if they want to share, donate if they want to donate.”

Riedeman said 25 trucks would be needed to haul the family’s grain to Aurora. Another 10-15 truck drivers said they might participate, hauling other grain, as a “sort of tribute,” he said.

Holtkamp graduated in 2009 with a degree in Ag Management Systems from Purdue University. He had worked for several years at Premiere Ag and previously worked for Crop Data Management Systems. He recently did some trucking for Harmeyer Trucking.

In his obituary, his family said, “He took care of everyone, but in quiet ways. He checked in on his grandmother. He did work for others because it needed done and was the right thing to do. His nurtured his wife and daughter. He wanted no praise and no credit He was the ultimate giver. If you needed help, he was there. And he was so much fun to be around.”

Sullivan and her sisters are a little bit younger than Holtkamp. “He played a big role in our lives,” she recalled. “He was like a big brother. He was a built-in babysitter or a ringleader for us.

“He loved being a husband and a dad and a farmer. He was very excited to have a son. He was always happy, always thankful how his life had turned out.”

In addition to his wife, daughter and unborn son, his obituary lists as survivors his parents, Dennis and Joyce, his sister, Lisa (Scott), his nieces Adyline and Kiersten, his grandmother, Ella Mae Holtkamp, and many family and friends. A private Mass was Feb. 1; burial was in St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery. The family requested, in lieu of flowers, that memorials be made to a trust fund established for his children. Contact the Porter-Oliger-Pearson Funeral Home (812-663-2192, www.popfuneralhome.com for information on donating.