John Roswell Holman

On January 26, 2020, John Roswell Holman passed away in his sleep at the Franciscan Hospice House in University Place, Washington.  John, or Jack as he was known by his friends, was born in Oregon City, Oregon, on August 21, 1928.  He joined his older sisters, Natalie and Joan and his parent’s Roswell and Edda Holman.

Jack graduated from Oregon City high school in 1946 and joined the Navy as a Radioman. After his honorable discharge in 1948, he attended the University of Washington, where he graduated in 1952.  While at the University of Washington, he met his first wife, Shirley Eckas, and they were married in February, 1951.  Jack and Shirley had a son, Jon, born in 1953, and a daughter, Janet, born in 1955.

Out of college, Jack joined the Travelers Insurance Company in Seattle, and as he rose in the company he was transferred first to Salt Lake City, then Boise, and finally Tacoma, where the family settled in Gig Harbor, in 1959.  Jack was offered a promotion by Travelers to move to San Francisco, and Jack and Shirley decided to turn it down to stay and raise a family in Gig Harbor.  Jack left Travelers around 1963 and started a new Insurance Agency called Holman Insurance in Gig Harbor.  He grew the business for 30+ years before selling the Agency when he retired.  Jack was very active in the Gig Harbor business community and was a past President of the Gig Harbor Lion’s club and recipient of the Lions Club Melvin Jones Fellowship Award for the highest levels of humanitarian service; he won the “Best Beard” contest at the first Harbor Holiday’s celebration in the summer of 1972; received the “Good Samaritan “award, along with Dr. Bill Wilbert, from the National Enquirer for their work with VOSH (Vision Optometric Services to Humanity) International.

After Jack retired, he split time between Gig Harbor and Arizona, and in 2009 started living full time in the retirement community of Pebble Creek in Goodyear Arizona.  Jack loved golf, which he continued to do until he was 90 years old and he consistently shot under his age, much to the chagrin of his son, Jon, and, daughter, Janet, when they played together.  In September, 2019, Jack moved back to Gig Harbor into the Peninsula, an independent living retirement community.

Jack will be remembered by his family and friends for being a huge Washington Husky fan; playing golf until he was 90; love of champagne and parties; love of sweets and ice cream; love of red roses; love of dancing; and his love of traveling. 

Jack’s volunteer work for VOSH took him to countries all around the world, including: up the Amazon River in Brazil; to remote areas of Columbia, Honduras, Philippines, India, and Poland.  He also loved to go on cruises: including cruises to Alaska, Antarctica, Caribbean, Greece and Turkey, and European river cruises.  Jack also loved to drive, and he took road trips throughout the Western United States.

After his wife, Shirley died in 1981, Jack married Jackie Larson in 1986 and they remained together until 2015 when they divorced.  During his last 5 years living in Pebble Creek, his close friend and companion was June Packnett.  June supported Jack as he recovered from a minor stroke in 2019, and she supported him as his hearing got worse.

Jack is survived by his two children, Jon Holman and Janet Weiland, two grandchildren, Catherine and Ross (from Jon), and two great grandchildren, Brooklyn and Charlotte (from Catherine).  In addition, John is survived by his former wife Jackie, her children Geri, Jill, and Rick; grandchildren Erika, Kristen (from Geri), Troy, Cami (from Jill), and Derek (from Rick); and 8 great grandchildren.

Jack was preceded in death by his first wife Shirley, and his two sisters Natalie and Joan.

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