John Foster Holman

A Celebration of Life in California on

May 22nd 2 pm At Sierra Community Church

1165 Sierra Boulevard

South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

Followed by a reception at Lake Tahoe Golf Course

2500 Emerald Bay Rd 3:30 pm- 6 pm

His Celebration of Life will be held in Arizona on

April 24th 2 pm at Valley Presbyterian Church

Followed by a reception at the church.

6947 E. McDonald Dr

Phoenix, AZ 85253

John Foster Holman Born December 11th 1946 and graduated to heaven President’s Day February 21st 2022.

John was predeceased by his Father and Mother, William Judson Holman and Evelyn Mae Holman. John is survived by his wife, Karis Holman and her children, Timothy and Edward Duran and Allison Ryan, sister, Jean Chaillie, nieces Ann Nowak (Terence) and Jennifer Chaillie, grand nephews, Grayson and Hudson Nowak.

John didn’t fear death, he feared not living his best life. He embraced life and dreamed of changing the world along with experiencing world-wide adventure. He motivated many others to join in his adventures along the way. He believed in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who made all things possible. John was a man of action. He wrote in his journal in 1997, “God throughout my life, you have always given me a mountain to look at and a mountain to climb.”

John was born to Evelyn Mae Foster and William Judd Holman in Parkville Illinois. It was post-World War 2 and they lived in the Guyon Hotel for $5/day. His Mother was a Buyer for a large shoe store and his father was a bookkeeper. The family added younger sister, Jean and then moved to the Phoenix, AZ area. His Mother became a buyer for Goldwater’s Department Store. John and Jean were raised learning about fashion. John remembered attending fashion shows and the models making a fuss over him and Jean. John and Jean were raised to understand fashion and bargain shopping. He could tell you what the full retail was and the price he paid for his amazing fashions, at a significant discount. John wore glasses and was a studious young man. His grandmother called him Master John and expected polite, gentlemanly behavior.

John went to camp as a child in the summers. He had family in Vermont that had a boy’s camp. He attended the first camp at nine years old. He was a Junior counselor so that he earned his way. Later he was a camp counselor at Sky Y Camp in Prescott. He shared about scary camp stories and smoking a corn cob pipe around the fire. There were many hikes. Everyone close to John has been on a death hike, or run, or bike ride with him. On one hike, a camper was left behind. John ran back, 10 miles one way, and practically carried the boy home. John ended up in the hospital. He did the 20-mile hike and then he ran it. No camper would be left behind on John’s watch.

John remembered his Mom’s quarterly buying trips and being left with caretakers for a couple of weeks, with their Dad. His Mom prepared their favorite casserole’s and froze them. One caretaker made one into a soup. As an 11-year-old, he fired the woman for ruining his Mom’s dinner. After that his. Mom did not hire extra help for his Dad when she traveled. Master John was head of the house.

John became a Christian at a young age and became very close to Christ at the age of 12 at YMCA’s Sky Y Camp in Prescott, AZ. He was studying to become a part of the Religious Honor Society of the Raggers Society. John memorized scripture and poems that helped him throughout his life. It was amazing to hear him quote poems or scriptures that dated back to this time. YMCA quote, “All parts of an engine must function together. In man so must he grow in spirit, mind, and body.” John was a strong Christian his entire life and wrote a Book, “Thinking about Jesus’” later in his life.

John and Jean attended Valley Presbyterian Church as teenagers going forward in life. It was a mandatory visit for John when he was in the area. He always went to remember his parents at the Memorial Garden. He became the youngest Elder of Valley Presbyterian at 22 years old. His sister, Jean, nieces and grandnephews continue to be involved in Valley Presbyterian Church. John attended regularly when he was in Arizona the last couple of years.

John took his education seriously. He graduated from Scottsdale High School in 1964. He graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business at Arizona State University. In 1969/ 1970 school year, he became the Student Body President during much political unrest in our country during the Vietnam War and Kent State riots. John was a strong leader during a difficult time.

John was an active member in Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He was big brother and helpful to many fraternity members. Several members reached out to share how they were low draft numbers ready to be drafted into the Vietnam War, John made sure they knew how to make sure they could graduate with their Bachelor’s Degree. This changed the course of their life. This seemed to be a common theme throughout John’s life, he would make efforts to help people in ways that would change the course of their life, to John it was business as usual.

John went all the way through ASU, he received his Bachelor’s, Master’s Degree in Business in 1971 and then His Juris Doctorate, Law Degree in 1975. He practiced Law for 5 years and then a client, was looking for a sales executive to market his product. Morton Fleischer founded Franchise Finance Corporation, John helped to raise $2 Billion Dollars to put Hardees, Arby’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Flying J Truck Stop, among many others on the map by marketing their All Cash Real Estate Investment as a wholesale product to EF Hutton’s 7000-man Financial Sales Team. This required John traveling to all 50 states and wining and dining the sales force. He was an excellent speaker. He preferred to stay on someone’s sofa and taking them to dinner rather than staying in hotels. He developed life-long friendships. “Do what’s right, fear only God” became his mantra during this period of his life.

In 1983, He ran his first Marathon in Dublin, Ireland with Marathon Tours. Thanks to Thom Gilligan and Marathon tours John became one of the first 26 people to run a marathon on all 7 continents. John loved to run to keep in shape. No matter where he went, he could pack running shoes and shorts and keep in shape. Through Marathon Tours he met so many amazing people that were up for adventure, travel, and physical challenges. Among his many adventures, he ran across the United States in 1989 to raise money to fight Drug Abuse, He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, His fastest marathon was 3 hours and 10 minutes. John rallied friends and family to get active and shared his adventures with them. He traveled to 65 countries and ran over 60 marathons, ultras and half marathons.

John was ready to work until the day he died. He continued to do financial services and focused on helping people and providing safe and secure products. He never stopped reading and studying. He was always working on his next million-dollar, idea. He was full of energy and pushed his body as fast as it could go. Even if he hadn’t seen friends for a long time, he would catch up on fun phone calls, using familiar comical voices or jokes shared for many years. He always had new trips and adventures planned well into the future.

He wasn’t afraid of dying but did not want to be on this Earth not living his best, active life. The Lord took him peacefully at home on Presidents Day February 21st, 2022 next to his wife and with his Sister and Sisters-in-law at his side.