John J. Holson Jr., a World War II veteran who worked for the
city of Gilroy for nearly two decades, died unexpectedly of cancer
on Saturday, Feb. 22.
John J. Holson Jr., a World War II veteran who worked for the city of Gilroy for nearly two decades, died unexpectedly of cancer on Saturday, Feb. 22. He is survived by his wife Gandi, with whom he recently celebrated his 54th wedding anniversary, as well as eight children and seven grandchildren.
Mr. Holson, 81, was born in San Francisco on Sept. 7, 1921 and grew up on a 20-acre ranch in Los Altos before moving to Gilroy in 1949. Mr. Holson was active in the Boy Scouts of America and several Gilroy youth groups when raising his children. In 1974, Mr. Holson joined the building department of the city of Gilroy where, as a senior building inspector and consultant, he oversaw the renovation of several city landmarks, including Old City Hall, built in 1906, and the Gilroy Museum.
But it was his service as an army medic in China, Burma and India during World War II that Mr. Holson was most proud. There he received a special commendation for tending to sick and wounded soldiers who helped regain control of the Burma Road in 1945, a treacherous route stretching across that country which had been captured by Japanese troops and where some of the region’s most ardent fighting took place.
Asia was a far cry from the apricot orchards and grassy fields of Northern California where Mr. Holson attended Mountain View High School and was raised by his Chicago-born mother, Bessie, and his father, John Sr., who had emigrated to the United States from Bohemia in the late 1890s. Like many soldiers who fought then, he returned, got married and began a family. Mr. and Mrs. Holson met on a blind date in August of 1946. Then, Mrs. Holson recalled, she was staying with a friend in the seaside community of Capitola when she and Mr. Holson and some friends went to the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk for cocktails in a nearby bar. “He was so handsome,” she said. On their way home, a fire broke out in Capitola and, according to Mrs. Holson, “these crazy kids decided to chase after the fire engine.” No one was hurt in that fire and three months later Mr. Holson asked Mrs. Holson to marry him.
The two exchanged marriage vows in February 1949 and moved to Gilroy. Then Mr. Holson owned a paint store, Holson’s Paint Bucket, but after four years closed the shop and went to work at a local manufacturing company for nearly two decades. A masterful negotiator with a calm demeanor, he represented the company’s employees during labor negotiations. Those skills came in handy later when Mr. Holson joined the city of Gilroy and had to negotiate with contractors and builders while an inspector. He too was an expert craftsman, having built the family’s beach house as well as custom furniture for himself and his children.
While Mr. Holson could be stern with adversaries, he was a thoughtful father devoted to his family. Mr. Holson used to come home daily with coffee-flavored toffees stashed in his coat and smiled as his young children squealed with delight after rifling through his pockets. On Christmas eve he would pile his children into his yellow pickup truck to chop down a Christmas tree to be decorated that night. Shoes were then lined up by the hearth and, while his children slept, Mr. Holson and his wife stuffed them with apples, oranges and freshly spun ribbon candy.
They spent summers and holidays at a beach house near Santa Cruz where Mr. Holson, an expert hunter and fisherman, taught his children to fish in nearby ponds. For 35 years he was a member of the Reinosa Hunting Club, a 1,600-acre ranch outside of Tres Pinos, near Hollister. Then, said his son Vincent, Mr. Holson would rise with his hunting partners at about 5 a.m. and drive to a large oak tree at the top of a hill two miles from camp to begin the day’s hunt. At noon they would return to camp, eat lunch, nap and in the late afternoon talk about the deer they got or, more often, those that got away.
Mr. Holson, who had no siblings, is survived by his wife Gandi and his eight children, Grace Malson, 53 years; John Holson, 52; twin sons Michael Holson and Vincent Holson, 49; Mary Connolly, 45; twin daughters, Gondie Chavez and Frances Hampton, 44; and Laura M. Holson, 40.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, a rosary will be said for Mr. Holson at the Habing Family Funeral Home at 7 p.m. On Thursday, Feb. 27, Elks Services will be held at the funeral home at 10:15 a.m., then there will be a procession to St. Marys Church for a Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at St. Marys Cemetery.
Contributions in his name can be made to the Trinity County Chamber of Commerce Feed The Fish Program, attn: Carol Eli, P.O. Box 517, Weaverville, CA, 96093. The phone number is (530) 623-6101.
