Mynard Holloway

On Sunday, August 9, 2020 Mynard J. Holloway, loving husband and father passed away at the age of 72 due to complications of end stage renal failure and cardio myopathy.

Mynard was born on November 16, 1947 in Muskegon, MI to Leonard and Amelia (Moser) Holloway. He was Team Captain of the wrestling team in high school, he was an avid card player, and he found his love for computers shortly after high school during technical training in Florida. He spent two years working at NASA and was even awarded the privilege of attending the launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969 at the NASA Launch Control Center (the closest place any human could be during the launch – 3 miles from blast off). He said the heat from the launch could be felt immediately in the observation room!

Mynard loved working with computers and was proud of his 29.5 years working for Upjohn Pharmaceuticals (now Pfizer) in Portage, MI and 18 years working for Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI. In fact, “Main Frames” was an emerging and game-changing technology when Mynard was first trained in his field. His final project before retirement was helping to transition Spectrum Health away from the “Main Frame” which had become obsolete and onto servers. His entire career showcased the timeline of a very important technology in the world’s computing history.

In 1972, Mynard married Deb Thompson from Muskegon. Their family included their daughters Danna and Sherri. Mynard and Deb later divorced. Life had a sweet surprise for Mynard: on September 19, 1998 Mynard married Marge Betz (Witters) and the two enjoyed just short of 22 years of marriage before his journey came to an end. Mynard and Marge enjoyed spending time with and watching their combined 4 children and 10 grandchildren grow and succeed in life. They hosted more “Settlers of Catan” game nights than one could count in their dedicated “Catan Room”. They took a post-retirement “trip of a lifetime” together to California and Hawaii. They were a joy to be around, always teasing one another, and play bickering about who loved each other more. Marge would say “I love you”. Mynard would say “I love you more”. Marge would always retort, “You better, Buddy!”.

After retirement, Mynard was able to realize a life-long dream of setting up a fully-functioning and envy-worthy wood-working shop in their basement that produced projects like cutting boards, light fixtures, and workbenches. He also loved model trains and designed and installed an elevated train track around the ceiling in his living room. He spent countless hours setting up and operating the trains with whoever came to visit.

If you’ve spent any time around Mynard then you know he loved a good story and to re-tell events from the past. If you heard one of his many “Pig stories” then you certainly saw him brought to tears from laughing so hard. We also joked that he never forgot a name, because he greeted everyone as “Hey, Chief!” or “Hey, Kid!”.

Mynard passed at home, with dignity and peace and surrounded by family, after fighting relentlessly for years and years with his many health challenges. He taught all of us what work ethic, loyalty, and family meant to him – every day. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Jerry. His brother John passed just a few days after Mynard did, and he is survived by his beloved wife, Marge; his children Danna Taylor and Sherri Little (and Chad); his stepchildren Chad Betz (and Mercedes) and Marcia Moore (and Smitty); 10 precious grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and many, many friends who love him!

Cremation has taken place and a private memorial service will be held at the Betzler Life Story Funeral Home, 6080 Stadium Drive, Kalamazoo MI 49009 (269) 375-2900. Please visit Mynard’s personal web page at www.BetzlerLifeStory.com, where you can read his Life Story, archive a favorite memory or photo and sign his online guestbook. Memorial contributions may be made to American Heart Association or the American Diabetes Association.