Thomas Joseph Holman Sr.'s Obituary
Thomas Joseph Holman, Sr.1930 – 2014On Friday January 17, 2014 Tom Holman passed away in his home at the age of 83, surrounded by his loved ones. He was born in New York City on May 30, 1930 as the only child of William and Anna Holman. Tom was raised in NYC and in 1948 graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in Brooklyn. He immediately joined the Army and served his country as an Infantry Specialist. Tom, and his now wife of 56 years, Elizabeth (Betty) Grant Holman, wrote to each other every day while he was serving in the Army. He met Betty at the age of 13 when they both vacationed at the New Jersey Shore. They ended up dating for 13 years and only ever dated each other. In 1949 Tom finished his year of military service and started attending St. John’s University in New York. After only 1 year he was drafted back into the Army to serve during the Korean War. Once his service was complete he took a job with Betty at James Talcott Incorporated as an account executive. They eventually married on February 23, 1957 and moved to New Shrewsbury, New Jersey where they started their family. In 1964, after having their 4th child they moved to California, where they had 4 more children.In California Tom predominantly worked in the cemetery business, starting out by answering a blind ad for a salesperson and was soon promoted to sales manager and eventually to Director of Sales. He worked in that capacity for three separate cemeteries over a 40 year span. During this time he earned numerous awards for being a stellar salesman and manager, including the first ever “Advance Planning Hall of Fame Award” for which he was most proud. Tom retired from the business in January of 1998. However, he was so admired and respected he was asked to come out of retirement to lead the sales team again in 2000 and in 2004, at the age of 74 he finally retired for good! Although Tom spent much of his time working he always made time to spend with his family. He especially enjoyed their annual trips to Disneyland and Sea World, playing “pickle” and eating breakfast on the beach, and attending his children’s sporting events. He rarely, if ever, missed any of them and attended every awards banquet and school function in support of his children. He couldn’t have been more proud of each of them. Tom was also an avid baseball fan and followed his beloved New York Yankees throughout his entire life. Tom is preceded in death by his parents, numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. He is survived by his loving wife Betty, His daughter Kathleen Anne Idomoto and her husband Masataka and children Amanda and Thomas; son Thomas Joseph Holman, Jr. and wife Pam; son William Alexander Holman and his wife Shawn and children Collin, Zachary and Kellsie; daughter Elizabeth Holman Hill and her husband John and children Joshua and Andrew; son Douglas Steven Holman and his wife Kim and children Emily and Grant; son Robert James Holman and his wife Rosemary and children Matthew, Joshua and Molly; son Christopher Andrew Holman and his wife Heather; son Michael Grant Holman. Tom will be greatly missed by all those who knew him!
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