Frank Warner Holm

Frank Warner Holm died Nov. 1. He was 87.

Holm was born April 1, 1929. His life began on a farm on Stanley Blvd., called Fairview. He and his family were a big part of the old history of Livermore. Holm’s grandpa came from Denmark and settled here, helping form the Dania lodge. Holm’s father, Warner Wilbur Holm, was born in Livermore and his mother is from the Teeter family. His entire young life was spent working alongside his father and siblings as they owned and operated the cattle/grain-farmed acreage of Fairview. Fairview, the large three-story family home built in 1906, was used in 1967 as a joint exercise-in-training for mutual aid fighting, a three-story structure fire by firefighters who practiced using new ladder trucks from the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department in conjunction with the big ladder trucks from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (then known as the Livermore Radiation laboratory). Although Fairview is now gone, a park remains named in honor of Holm's Grandma, Ida Holm, on a portion of the property.

Holm had his own custom tractor work enterprise and was contracted in June 1950 to clear the land with his scraper and disc implements for the new California Research & Development Co. facilities being built at the old East Avenue air base area. For those 75 hours of work, he received $300. In 1976, Holm started employment with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). He retired in 1989 as a rigger supervisor. The Holm family still owns and operates a cattle business on the Holm Ranch on Mines Road. All his life, he and his buddies hunted there during deer season, followed by their “famous” venison BBQs at the ranch’s cabin/pool area. The big Fourth of July celebration at the ranch still exists today. The Holm family was full of family tradition and Holm’s life revolved around his family and those occasions.

Holm was an active lifetime member and past president of Las Positas Parlor #96, Native Sons of the Golden West. He was an active and lifetime member and past commander of the Livermore V.F.W. Post #7265. He was very proud of his commemorative “brick” in front of that building. He was a lifetime member of the Operating Engineers Local Union #3, a life member of the Livermore-Pleasanton Rod and Gun Club and life member of the Livermore Rodeo Association. His clubs were very important to him and he loved to work and cook for them whenever he could. He enlisted and served in the U.S. AF as a heavy equipment operator from 1951 to 1955, with tours in Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, Labrador and Utah. After his service, he worked at Camp Parks and then as a burro crane operator for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He then was employed for 13 years at Deetz Construction Co. in Pleasanton as an operating engineer.

Joan (Voerckel) and Holm were Livermore High School sweethearts who married in 1950 in the chapel of the First Presbyterian Church. They lived on College Avenue for 35 years and then moved to Third Street in 1985 for 32 years. They were content with a simple life in Livermore and happy to see all the new improvements, especially downtown and in the “old south side,” where they resided for more than 66+ yrs. Holm almost never had to hire a repairman because he could fix anything that needed to be done. It seems that he never quite “finished” improving his own home and yard.

Holm was very proud of his two sons: Gary (wife, Jeri Sveen), who is a retired Lt. Cdr., U.S. Navy who also then went on to retire a second time from the Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs in San Diego, and David (wife, Sandy Sports Garcia) of Manteca, who was a long-haul truck driver and is active in his church missions. Grandson, Brett (wife Heather, children Gemma and Kaiser), who is a Honolulu firefighter. Grandson, Derek (wife Eihdel, children Charlene and Brody), who is a SMSgt. in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and works for a bio tech firm in San Diego. Granddaughter, Jennifer (husband Victor), who is a UC Stanislaus graduate, living in Livermore and working in Milpitas.

Frank loved the solitude of his weekly fishing trips to Lake Del Valle in his boat, which was his pride and joy during retirement. He loved to distribute his catch of trout to his friends and neighbors. He tallied every fish he ever caught. He checked his outdoor high-low thermometer each morning and tallied his rain gauge, always coordinating his reading with those in the local newspaper.

Frank loved all his dogs: Pepper, Dingo, Buster, Mickey and Hammie. He took such good care of them and was known around Livermore as the guy with his dog hanging out of his truck window as they went for their daily ride together each morning, mostly to the Livermore rodeo grounds.

He ended his days living among newly made friends at Heritage Estates, not far from his family home, Fairview.

He is predeceased by his parents, Ione Teeter Holm and Warner Wilbur Holm; his siblings, Merilyn “Tilli” Holm Calhoun, James G. Holm, Patsy Holm Neely and Richard Holm.