Nancy Ann Holman

Holman made history on June 25, 1970, when Governor Daniel Evans appointed her to serve on the King County Superior Court, thus making her the first woman to sit as a judge on a Superior Court in the State of Washington. She retired from the bench in 1997.

Born in 1935 in Adams, Massachusetts, the only child of Henry and Helen Gattuso, Holman quickly demonstrated a curiosity for knowledge which she would foster during her entire legal career. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in philosophy in 1956 from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, and received her law degree in 1959 from Boston College Law School, graduating in the top 5% of her class. She was a special student at the Harvard Law School in Soviet Law, as well as a student in the Middlebury College Russian Language and Literature Program. She was a founding member of ?Industrial Law Review,? as well as a member of the editorial board of The Annual Survey of Massachusetts Law.

During Law School, she married James A. Holman, a member of a prestigious Seattle legal family which included his father, Frank E. Holman, a past President of the American Bar Association, and his brother, Francis Holman, who later became a State Legislator and King County Superior Court Judge. Their first child, Carrol, was born during Law School, and Andrew was born one year later. Admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1959, she began her career as a trial and appellate court lawyer in the Boston firm of Crane, Inker & Oteri.

In 1961, she moved to Seattle, passed the Washington State bar, and joined the firm of Elliott, Lee, Carney, and Smart, where she specialized in construction and products liability defense, personal injury defense, and complex divorces. The same year, her third child, Hilary, was born. During this time she became the first woman member of the Washington Defense Lawyers, which in 1970 sponsored a conference she co-chaired for young lawyers in Vancouver, B.C. and King County on environmental issues. Including topics such as air and water pollution, land use, and nuclear power, this conference anticipated issues which would shape national and international discussion throughout the rest of the century.

While she began her career defending corporate clients, she distinguished herself as a judge concerned with the plight of the individual, setting a standard for compassion and patience for anyone who entered her courtroom. For five years she chaired the Juvenile, Family Law and Mental Illness Committee in the King County Superior Court. In 1975, her reversal of a lower court?s wrongful termination of a Bellevue school teacher made her a champion of teacher?s rights.

In 1978, she married McDonald Sullivan, who was the first Executive Director of the Seattle Chinatown-International District Preservation and Development Authority.

She particularly impacted the area of family law. In addition to publishing numerous law review articles regarding the use of arbitration in domestic dispute cases, Judge Holman helped found the King County Superior Court Family Law Department in 1981, and served as President of the American Association of Family Conciliation Courts. She approved production of ?A Family Affair,? a documentary film on domestic violence, which received a gold medal at the NY International Film and Television Festival, and continues to be used as a teaching tool in many professions nationally. Her 1984 decision in re Marriage of Brown established the separate category of a pain and suffering award to an injured spouse in divorce cases.

Perhaps her most well-know case is the City of Renton v. Playtime Theateres et al, a case which challenged a city ordinance restricting the showing of sexually explicit films in a school zone. Always the legal innovator, Judge Holman used an advisory jury to view the films in question to assist her in establishing the community standard. Her decision in this case was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court.

She also gained much publicity in 1989 as one of the three judges to use cameras in the courtroom, and served on the board which approved a grant for ?Her Day in Court,? a film on the history of women judges in Washington.

Holman took pride in herself as a life-long learner, and she extended her knowledge to others whenever she could. She taught at the University of Puget Sound Law School now Seattle University Law School, the National College of the State Judiciary at the University of Nevada in Reno, and Boston College Law School.

Since 1970, Judge Holman served on the Board of Trustees at her alma mater, Wheaton College. In recognition of her long-standing dedication to the college, she received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1997. Her other awards include her recognition as a Matrix Table Woman of Achievement in Seattle in 1971, the Alumnus of the Year Award and Bicentennial Medal Award from the Boston College School of Law in 1971 and 1976 respectively. In 1990, she received the William O. Douglas Award from the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association. In 1997, she received the Outstanding Judge Award from the Washington State Bar Association. Also in 1997, she was awarded Boston College Law School?s most prestigious honor, the St. Thomas Moore Award.

Judge Holman also was the first woman to hold an office Treasurer in the Washington State Superior Court Judges? Association, and the first woman elected to the King County Law Library Board. She was always aware that her knowledge of the law, her conduct of trials, and her approach to public service would play a critical role in opening doors for women who followed her. In the 32 years since she was appointed, 75 women have served on Courts of Record in the State of Washington. Today, over 60 Washington women are judges at this level.

She is survived by her husband, McDonald Sullivan; three children from her first marriage, Carrol Holman Varner of Seattle, Dr. Andrew Holman of Seattle, Alexandra Holman Ovenshine of California, and her husband?s children, Bess Sullivan of Seattle, Jeff Sullivan of Bremerton, WA, Lee Sullivan and Tim Sullivan of Madison, WI, and 9 grandchildren.

Remembrances can be made to the Judge Nancy Ann Holman Washington State Scholarship Fund, Wheaton College, Norton, MA, 02766.

Memorial service will be Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 1:00pm at St. Mark?s Episcopal Cathedral. 1245 10th Ave. E. Seattle, WA 98102.