CAMP COUNTY - ROSE HILL CEMETERY


Published in Dallas Morning News on July 3, 2007

HOLMAN, JOHN MILLER 

John Miller Holman was born on December 3, 1922, in Longview, Texas, and died on June 
30, 2007. He was the son of Harry and Ada Holman, and reared in Pittsburg, TX. from 
the age of 3. 

He graduated from Pittsburg High School in 1940, and entered Texas A. & M. University. 
He graduated from A&M in 1947 after serving 3 years in the Unites States Army during 
World War II. His military service included 16 months in the European theater in the 
583rd Signal Depot Company. 

In 1949, he married Peggy Jane Hull. He was active in civic and church affairs, and 
served 13 years on the PISD school board. He also served 2 terms on the Executive 
Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas. He entered the retail furniture business 
in Pittsburg in the 1950s, and acquired the Adele Hunt Furniture & Studio in Dallas 
in 1961. He was president of the Greater Dallas Furniture Association in 1964, became 
a member of the Board of Directors of the National Retail Furniture Assn., and its 
president in 1985. That same year he was named Americas Outstanding Home Furniture 
Retailer by that organization. He founded the National Interior Design Society in 1973, 
which now has chapters all over the U.S. 

The family moved to Dallas in 1969. They were members of the St. Lukes Episcopal Church, 
where John taught Sunday School and served on the Vestry. 

After semi-retiring in 1985, he opened the Pitsburg Antiques Center and in 1989 organized
the Pittsburg/Camp County Museum Assn, serving as chairman and president. For his museum 
work, he received the Man-of-the-Year award in 1991 from the Camp County Chamber of 
Commerce. He remained active in the museum organizations, and in 2002, was named 
outstanding Trustee by the Texas Association of Museums. 

He was the author of four family history books, a book of childrens bedtime stories, and 
wrote text, compiled and edited "On the Wings of Ezekiel" published by the Pittsburg/Camp
County Museum Association. 

A member of Princedale and Northwood Country Club in Dallas, Ferndale and Pine Ridge 
clubs in Pittsburg, his hobbies ranged from astronomy to genealogy. He was an avid 
golfer, flew his own plane for many years, and was an award-winning amateur photographer.

He is preceded in death by Peggy Jane Hull Holman, his wife of 57 years. Harry, his 
brother, preceded him in death. 

He is survived by John (son) and his wife, Nancy, and their children, Christopher and 
Hunter; Janet (daughter) and her husband, Dick Lewis, and their children, John and his 
wife, Naomi, their daughter Elizabeth Sydney, Matt, and Mark; Todd (son) and his wife, 
Eugenie, and their children, Read, Timothy, and Amy; and Margaret (sister). 

Services will be held Friday, July 6, at 10 a.m. at St. William Laud Episcopal Church 
in Pittsburg. Visitation will be Thursday evening from 6-8 p.m. at Erman Smith Funeral 
Home in Pittsburg. 

The family would like to give a special thanks to the wonderful people of the Longview 
Cancer Center for their cheerfulness and compassion. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. William Laud Episcopal Church, P.O. 
Box 1057, 601 Lafayette Street, Pittsburg, Texas 75686 or the Camp County Museum 
Association, P.O. Box 157, Pittsburg, TX. 75686. 

Erman Smith Funeral Home Pittsburg, TX 903-856-2711