Don Holman obituary - Obituary provided by Utah Tributes

Thursday, November 19 2009

6:00 - 8:00 PM

Friday, November 20 2009

11:00 AM

Don Holman

“Walking Tall”

Sunset

1932 - 2009

Donald Parl Holman passed away Friday, November 13th 2009, at Salt Lake Regional Hospital of complications due to pneumonia. He was surrounded by his family and friends and the love, joy, and laughter that characterized his relationships throughout his life.

Born Friday the 13th of September, 1932, in the tiny high desert mining town of Ely, Nevada, Don was the seventh of nine children who were largely raised singlehandedly by his mother, Florence, as his father passed away when he was only five.

Don liked to say he’d held at least 43 jobs in 70 years, starting as a price tagger in the family store before he was old enough to go to school. Though he was best known as an Assistant Professor of Accounting at Weber State University, where he taught for more than 30 years, his colorful work history included jobs as a blacksmith, sheepherder, lumberjack, sportscaster, City Recorder for Sunset City, Utah, and a brief stint as a professional musician. Without a doubt, though, his favorite position was as a baker’s assistant in Ely, where he learned to juggle hot pans fresh from the oven barehanded without burning himself and was paid 50 cents an hour plus “all he cared to eat.”

Although the polio Don contracted at the age of 17 would impact the way he implemented tasks in his everyday life, he refused to let it dictate the way he chose to live. Blessed with the unique ability to see opportunity in apparent tragedy, Don often commented that were it not for the polio, he would never have gone to college and would “probably be driving a truck back in Ely.” Paralyzed from the waist down, and told by doctors that he would never be capable of leading a normal life, he went on to earn his MBA on a full scholarship to Stanford University and raise a family.

Don’s proudest achievement was being a husband and father. While teaching at BYU, Don caught a glimpse of Taiwanese graduate student Anna Lin Shiow-Luan and thought she was “the prettiest girl I’d ever seen.” Married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple in December 1971, the couple were devoted to each other during their 38 years together – during which, Anna says, he never once raised his voice.

Anna always called Don “the best husband anyone could have,” and treasured his daily lunchtime phone calls to her special education classroom at Sunset Junior High. Residents of Sunset City since 1974, the couple had three daughters: Ann-Marie, Christa, and Elise. Don held many callings in the LDS Church, and particularly loved being a teacher. As supportive as he was instructive, it was not unusual for Don to stay up all night to help his daughters, his wife, and his son-in-law with school projects, providing both wisdom and moral support in equal and generous measures.

Don was preceded in death by his sister Shirley and brothers Urvin, Mearl, and Voin. Don is survived by his wife, daughters, eight grandchildren, and his sisters Maude, Fae, Luana and Sheril.

As Don recently wrote, “I may not match the record of my eldest brother who worked as a butcher at age 87 until two months before his death, but I’m still moving and laughing and breathing. It has been a most interesting ride!”

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Friday, November 20, 2009 at the LDS Stake Center 220 W. 975 N. Sunset, UT 84015. Viewings will take place on both Thursday, November 19th from 6 – 8 pm at Myers Mortuary, 5865 S. 1900 W. Roy, UT 84067, and from 9:45 am – 10:45 am at the Sunset Stake Center prior to Friday’s services. Interment will be at the Murray City Cemetery 5490 S Vine St. Murray, UT 84107. Online condolences may be expressed at www.myers-mortuary.com.