John Harrison Holt Jr.

He was born on June 14, 1925, in Lawrence County, Tennessee, to John Harrison Holt, Sr. and Myrtle Morrow Holt. During his junior year of high school, John was drafted into the Army on May 19, 1944, and served in the European Theater of World War II until the war's end. John received an honorable discharge in February 1946 and returned home to finish his senior year of high school at Lawrence County High. After high school graduation, John moved to Washington D.C. where he was employed by the FBI from 1948-1955. While in D.C., he married his high school sweetheart, Marie, on January 20, 1949, and later earned his BCS and BBA from Southeastern University. John enrolled in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in September 1955 and graduated in December 1958 with a Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture. He was employed by The Tennessee Farmers Co-Op in LaVergne, Tennessee, from 1959 to 1965. From there, he began working for the Baptist Sunday School Board in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1969, he was transferred to Fort Worth, Texas, as a sales representative for Broadman Press. In 1976 he was pursued by Thomas Nelson Publishers and began working for them until 1986. In 1986, he returned to the Baptist Sunday School Board representing Holman Bibles until he retired in 1993. John spent his retirement years serving the Lord by spending time with his family and friends and ministering at his church.

John was a generous Christian, a faithful husband, a loving father and grandfather, a genuine friend to many, the favorite “Uncle H” among his Tennessee relatives, and a loyal member of North Richland Hills Baptist Church, serving as a deacon, choir member, usher, and on three pastor search committees. He always took opportunities to tell others about his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He distributed many Bibles with The Gideon's International, an association of Christian business men dedicated to telling people about Jesus through providing Bibles and New Testaments in hotels, schools, colleges, prisons, hospitals and medical offices. He was also an old car enthusiast and enjoyed restoring his dad's 1916 Model T Ford which he used in his daughters’ weddings and also to take the grandchildren for rides around the neighborhood.

John is survived by his wife of sixty-six years, Marie Battle Holt, daughters Rebecca Shuffield (Wayne), Martha Carr (Mark) and Sarah Reinmiller (Tom); grandchildren Amy Shuffield; Andrew, Caleb, Luke, Nicolas and Haleigh Carr; Hannah, Samuel (Katelyn), Joseph, John and David Reinmiller; sister Betty Osborn; brother-in-law James Battle (Carol), sister-in-law Martha Battle and many nieces, nephews and friends.

Should friends desire to give memorials, please give to The Gideon's International or North Richland Hills Baptist Church “Better Together” fund.