In Remembrance: John Holbrook Jr. ’59, ’68MArch Died on February 22 2023

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A resident of Manhattan, John Holbrook Jr. died on February 22, 2023, at age 85. He was the loving husband of Edythe M. Holbrook, father of Sara H. Guggenheim and Anna H. Bizzack, grandfather of Benjamin and Wills Guggenheim and Emma and Ethan Bizzack, son of the late John Holbrook (Yale ’31) and Alice Doubleday, and brother of David D. Holbrook ’60, the late Phyllis H. Lichtenstein, and Peter M. Holbrook.

He graduated from Saint Bernard’s School in 1950, Saint Paul’s School in 1955, and Yale College in 1959 (where he rowed crew, was selected for Skull and Bones, and later helped organize the 25th reunion). After three years of active duty as a platoon, company, and then planning officer in a US Marine Corps infantry battalion, he entered the Yale School of Architecture, graduating in 1968. While at Yale, he began a lifelong study of ancient history, natural history, and the history of science. In Washington, DC, he practiced architecture and developed real estate. In Grafton, Vermont, he continued in architecture and managed a farm.

In the 1980s, the focus of his professional life shifted from designing buildings to planning of all types. He served as VP of the Episcopal Church Building Fund, where he managed its loan portfolio and taught dioceses and congregations how to organize and plan for building construction. He was a consultant and VP at Merrill Lynch’s corporate real estate department, where he led a strategic planning team of their building projects. He ended his career as a consultant to and then CFO of Chosen People Ministries, where he was responsible for administration, finance, and development. During his working years, he provided planning services to friends and their businesses and ministries, served on many boards, and continued his studies in history and the Bible. In retirement, he concentrated on his faith and on writing books and papers focusing on his biblical views.

—Submitted by the family.