Obituary of Janet Wallace Holman

Janet Wallace Holman (born Janet Irene Wallace) was born on April 20, 1942 to Robert Campbell Wallace and Ethel Irene Wallace in Mill Valley, California. On Monday, January 8, 2024, Janet Wallace Holman passed away at the age of 81 years in Durham, California. She is survived by her husband Howard (Pete) Francis Holman III; her two youngest sons, Gregory Campbell Holman (DeAnna) Durham, CA, and Michael Foster Holman (Irene) Salem, OR; her older sister, Joan Stuart Vancouver, WA ; her two younger brothers, Robert Wallace (Kathy) Manteca, CA, and William Wallace (Laurie) Burlington, WA; and three grandchildren (Emily Holman, Andrew Holman, and Abigail Holman). She is predeceased by her oldest son, Howard Francis Holman IV.

Jan was born at Ross General Hospital in Kentfield (near Mill Valley), California and lived in San Luis Obispo for her first few years. While in San Luis Obispo, Jan suffered from polio. After countless hours of specific exercises and help from her father, she overcame the immense stiffness of her limbs that the disease had brought on. Surviving polio was one of the first of many times Jan exhibited strength and determination throughout her life, a trait many of her family members and friends admired her for. When Jan was nine years old, her family decided to move to a dairy farm in Orland, California. She would spend her formative years growing up on the dairy.

After moving to the dairy farm, Jan developed an immense love of cows, her favorite animal for as long as anyone could remember. She developed a strong work ethic from living on the farm, which she passed on to her sons, grandchildren, and the students she taught. Jan loved her time on the dairy farm, and her family was incredibly close-knit and loving towards each other. She often told her children and grandchildren stories about her time at the dairy farm, doing chores around the farm, and spending time with her siblings. Working on a dairy farm was hard, but Jan loved to find fun where she could, and one of the ways she made her fun was by playing with and teasing her siblings. She loved telling a story about playing a prank on her older sister Joan while doing one of their farm chores together. Joan was moving feed for the cows up at the top of a silo and dropped her pitchfork. When Jan noticed this happening– being well out of the way of the pitchfork as it fell– she quickly thought of the perfect way to prank Joan. When the pitchfork hit the ground, Jan let out a cry of pain, and Joan made her way to the ground as quickly as she could, worried the pitchfork had hit Jan. When she found Jan laughing at the bottom of the silo, unharmed instead of hurt, she was relieved, but there were consequences. Jan said that the pranks and the laughter were always worth it.

Despite the work it took Jan and her family to run the dairy farm, she still found time for extracurricular activities to keep herself active in her schools and community growing up. One of these things was joining her local 4-H club. She remained an active member of 4-H, enjoying the community, the responsibility, and all of the different things she learned as a child, so much so that she volunteered as a 4-H leader as an adult in whichever 4-H clubs were nearest to her at the time. Jan's commitment to 4-H became a lifelong love of hers, not only by staying a 4-H leader throughout her life but also by encouraging her sons and, later, her grandkids to join 4-H. She was involved with the 4-H clubs of Butte and Glenn Counties for over 50 years. She even started and helped run a Christmas Giving effort through these 4-H clubs, helping local communities during the holidays by organizing a canned food and coat drive and giving these things to those in need.

Another one of the things Jan used to stay active was school sports. Jan was always a competitive person, and playing sports– whether it was just at home with her siblings and with friends during breaks, joining the school's basketball team and participating in school sports events, or even joining the track and basketball teams later on in college – was a fundamental way she could express her competitive spirit. Jan loved playing barnyard basketball with her siblings at home, where she perfected throwing her hips to protect the ball and her space to win. Once she began playing on school teams and later in college, to her dismay, she had to unlearn this trick after committing a foul accidentally by using this move during practice on her teammates. It was muscle memory to her, but this sent more than a couple of her teammates flying across the court during practice! Jan also participated in her high school's annual "powder puff" football game, where the girls would play football against each other as "Orland" and "Willows," Orland's most prominent rival team. In one particular instance during a powder puff football game, Jan's athleticism and competitive nature shined. The powder puff game was supposed to demonstrate how Orland's football team would beat Willows' team in the upcoming rivalry football game, as it did every year the ladies played. However, once Jan was assigned to be the captain of the Willows team, her determination and the competitive fire in her took over. That year was the first time in Orland High School's history that the Willows team beat the Orland team during the powder puff game.

Even as Jan became older, her competitive spirit never died out. When her youngest son, Mike, was a junior in high school and on the varsity basketball team, Jan was asked to play on a team of parents for a fun match against the high school's team. At one point, she was matched up against one of the better players on the high school team. This may have been intimidating for other parents who were playing, but not for Jan. Jan figured out the kid's signature moves– he always did a pump fake and had a pattern of when and where he threw the ball– and she figured out how to block his shots every time. Later, Mike remembers that the rest of his teammates on the varsity team told him that Jan had "owned" that teammate during the game.

After graduating from Orland High School in 1960, Janet attended California State University, Chico (where she had been inspired by her experience with sports and physical activity on the farm and her father's job as a professor of Agriculture at CSU, Chico). There, she earned a bachelor's degree in physical education, a minor in history, and a teaching credential (She later completed her master's degree in physical education at CSU, Chico, in 1971 while also being a mother to her first son, Howard, at the time).

While at CSU, Chico, Jan met her husband, Howard (Pete) Holman, in 1965 at the pool. Pete was helping with one of Chico's swim classes, and later, the same teacher asked Jan to help with the class as well. Over the next year, after Jan graduated with her teaching credential, she and Pete harbored a long-distance relationship while he was teaching in Chico, and she was teaching physical education at a Bay Area high school. Then, on August 6th, 1966, Jan and Pete finally married at the Methodist Church in Orland. Over the next four years, Jan and Pete both taught in the San Juan School District in the Sacramento area. Once they wanted to have children, they decided they did not want to raise their children in a city. Wanting to live in a safer, more rural, and more open environment, they moved to Marysville for a year. When Pete was hired as a teacher at Butte College, Jan and Pete moved to Durham, where they lived for over fifty years, raising their children and having their grandchildren brought up next door.

Having made her place in Durham amongst a community of people she held dear, Jan continued to be active in the Durham community for as long as she lived there. Having always been an active and energetic person, she needed something to put her energy into, and she decided that making the community in which she lived a better place for her and her family, as well as the other residents of Durham, was the perfect way to spend her free time. Jan was active in many different community-centered organizations in Durham, which included the Durham Unified Parents Teachers Students Association, Butte County 4-H, the Durham Women's Club, the Durham Parade and Picnic Committee, the Patrick Ranch, and the Durham Cemetery Preservation Association. She worked with Durham Rotary on many occasions and was honored with the Paul Harris Fellow award by Durham Rotary in 2018. Jan was named Durham Parade and Picnic "Woman of the Year" in 1992. In May, 2024, she was posthumously named the May Day Parade's Honorary Parade Marshal.

Jan's love and passion for Durham's local history brought her to the Durham Women's Club, which she remained an active member of for decades. Not only did she work with them to accomplish their philanthropic deeds, but she also took it upon herself to interview many people within Durham's community who had lived in the area for an extended period. By doing this, she was able to preserve an important part of Durham's history, as well as make connections to others who could help her do the same. The more Jan pursued knowledge of Durham's history, with all of the knowledge that she had gained over the years from recording interviews with long-time Durham residents and her many history-based projects, the more she was able to conserve that history and spread Durham's history to many different people and places within the town. She would share her knowledge with anyone who asked, especially at the Durham Picnic, where she created and displayed “The Old Timer’s Booth” about Durham's history for everyone to learn about the town's background and roots. Jan was even a Durham Parade and Picnic Committee member, where she would make even more connections with Durham residents, former residents, and neighbors with knowledge of the community's history.

Another way Jan spread her historical knowledge of Durham to younger generations was through her walking tour of Durham, which she led for elementary school students from Durham's elementary school since the 1970’s. She would also present a wide range of local historical topics for elementary school students, from the railroads to the blacksmith shop and everything in between. She even collaborated with a local artist from Durham, Carol Franklin, to create a coloring book complete with basic Durham history to make the town's history more accessible to younger students. No matter who you were, Jan would find a way to make Durham's history accessible and exciting so that you, too, could learn about the town. She would get people from all over Durham telling her that she should write an official book on Durham's local history, but she would always tell them that she was too busy to write that book. That's why she accepted enthusiastically when the opportunity came to work with Adriana Farley and the Arcadia Publishing Company to write, develop, and publish the book Images of America: Durham. Images of America: Durham became an incredible source of learning local history, where one could get a taste of Durham's history, especially with the pictures they shared.

Jan held a special place in her heart for the Patrick Ranch Museum– both for its history with the connections and friendships she built there. She would spend a lot of her time volunteering there during the last few decades of her life. Jan became friends with the previous owner of the Patrick Ranch, Hester Patrick, many years ago. This friendship had sparked from Jan's interest in local history and Hester's desire to dedicate her property to telling the story of the agricultural history in the area, and it continued to drive Jan's enthusiasm and fascination with both local history and the Patrick Ranch for the past 20 plus years. She felt a strong connection and then obligation to Hester after promising her that she would do all she could to see that her vision of a local agricultural history museum became fact, becoming the Historian for the museum. Over the years, the Patrick Ranch Museum passed through many different management structures, made many physical improvements, and added new buildings and exhibits throughout Jan's time there. As the Patrick Ranch's Historian, she created multiple displays, many of which she would be proud to know are still the main displays at the Patrick Ranch. She was always looking for a better way to tell the story of some part of agriculture at the Ranch, and she succeeded in achieving her and Hester's dream for the museum. Jan was always so appreciative of all of the wonderful volunteers and staff at the Patrick Ranch. She was equally thankful for all of the people in the Horse Group, Tractor Group and Blacksmith Group for their countless hours dedicated to keeping history alive for future generations.

Jan loved involving her friends and family in local community events and clubs. All three of her sons became a part of 4-H, as did all three of her grandchildren. She involved Durham Unified School District with her annual Christmas Giving effort, encouraging students to donate food and clothes. Her daughter-in-law, DeAnna, would help Jan make the fliers for the Threshing Bee every year, and her grandchildren would help her at the Patrick Ranch and even volunteer at the Ranch's major annual events. Everywhere her family would go, they would be recognized as "Jan's son," "Jan's daughter-in-law," or even "Jan's grandkids" because of how influential and well-known she was throughout the community. Her dedication and devotion to the people of Durham are well-known and continue to shine brightly throughout the community.

Janet's selflessness was a beacon of light in our community. Whether it was through volunteering her time and resources or organizing fundraisers, she was always a driving force in raising money for any organization she was a part of. Her efforts helped raise more than $150,000 in rummage sales and garage sales for numerous local organizations. If you knew Jan, you donated to, worked, or shopped at one or more sales. Jan's giving heart was evident in her interactions with children who were selling for their cause. She would never pass by without buying or donating, always listening to their stories and encouraging their public speaking skills.

Throughout her life, Jan had strong convictions and would fight hard for what she believed in. If something were going on in the community that she saw as unjust or wrong in some way, Jan would investigate the issue, organize with like-minded individuals, and help lead the charge to change things for what she believed was the best. She had the connections and the spirit to see how to stop these injustices when they arose. These were things like attending Durham school board or county board of supervisors meetings. If something was happening Jan did not like; she would, with assembled groups of citizens, come to these meetings to fight against projects and plans she saw as wrong. She even helped stop a large sewage treatment plant from being put on the southern side of Butte Creek Estates. Bottom line, if you were not on her side, you had better have solid arguments and a strong backbone; otherwise, you would have a hard time at public meetings and in the court of local public opinion, and she would tell you what was the right thing to do. Her strength, determination, and unmovable views of right and wrong were incredibly admirable to everyone in the community, whether or not they agreed with her.

For her three sons, Howard, Greg, and Mike, in addition to working in the schools and as a 4-H leader, she pushed to get them involved with sports because of the positive ways they influenced her life growing up. By the time her youngest had left swimming, she had volunteered with the Dolphins of Durham swim team for two decades and continued to do so when all three of her grandchildren joined the Durham Dolphins.

With her oldest suffering from muscular dystrophy, Jan worked with her husband to make sure he could have as normal a life as possible, putting in ramps instead of stairs in their home and encouraging him to pursue his interests and do what he loved. For all her children, she would work with their current and future teachers to try to find ways to do activities that would help them in their educational journeys. Typically, summer vacation trips would, in addition to visiting relatives, include stops or detours to visit monuments, museums, and parks that would help them all learn and grow.

After marrying his wife DeAnna and having their first-born daughter Emily, Greg and family moved into the house next door to her and Pete's home, both homes she had helped build. Greg would visit his parents daily, always able to help them with anything they needed and have long, loving conversations about anything and everything. Often, both families would go to either house for meals for special occasions and holidays. Thanksgiving and Easter were annual events for everyone to gather and celebrate at her and Pete's home in fun and traditional ways. Christmas was always held at her house, where the Christmas tree was decorated with unique ornaments collected over decades that held special memories. Besides spending time with her family, the tree was Jan's favorite part of the holiday. One of the Christmas memories she loved recounting to her grandkids as they grew up was that when the three of them were very little, they put remote-controlled lights on the Christmas tree. She and Pete told them to put their hands up towards the tree on the count of three; when they put their hands up, the lights turned on! It was like magic to them, feeling like they could turn the lights on and off with their minds. She always said that the looks on her grandkids' faces were priceless- so much so that she had framed two pictures from this memory, which were grandly displayed in the living room.

Jan's grandchildren had the amazing experience of having her live next door to them while growing up. Whenever they needed anything, Grandma and Grandpa were always right next door. This included being taken to school, getting help on homework (especially history homework and presentations), or needing a place to stay during college. She loved talking to her grandkids and telling them stories about her childhood or their father and uncles when they were growing up, always making sure to tell the stories with humor and fondness. Some of her grandkids' fondest memories with her include sitting in the living room and listening to her tell stories with all the love and care she had for them, making sure to include lessons to teach them within her storytelling. She always wanted them to learn and grow as people, and she was incredibly proud of the people her grandchildren became as they grew into adulthood. Jan always made sure to give her grandkids a big hug and kiss (and some food) before leaving her house each time, constantly making them feel loved and supported, no matter what.

Jan was a loving, loyal, caring, passionate, supportive, selfless, and giving person to both family and community. She wanted to do good things for others out of the love she had for her family and her community and preserve her town's history for future generations to learn. Jan would hope that other local residents will continue to value and support the Durham community as much as she did.

There will be a Celebration of Life Ceremony for Jan on June 30th at the Patrick Ranch at 10am. In lieu of gifts or flowers, please consider donating time or money to the Patrick Ranch or to an organization that will help Durham or your community.

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