Weblog #5..Welcome..Included is information, stories, photos & more...

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Now Playing: Be Mine..Jackie Wilson (continued)..(instrumental) Bill Black Combo..I Found A Love--Wilson Pickett..Cherry Pie--Skip and Flip..Step By Step--The Crests..Turn On Your Lovelight--Bobby Bland..Tell Me Why--The Belmonts..My Heart Has A Mind Of It`s Own--Connie Francis..(instrumental) The String-a-Longs..Wiggle Wobble--Les Cooper

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Erik Holm who just recently passed on with lung cancer in January, 2008..This is his junior high school photo in the seventh grade, 1957..I was in the ninth grade at Emerson Junior High School in Pomona where Erik also was attending school..He is the younger brother of Michael Holm..I got along real well with Erik..He was real easy going...Mike, on the the other hand, would flare up on occasion with wild outbursts of rage, but I got along well with both brothers, actually...I lost touch with the Holm Family after we moved from Alvarado Street to Elaine Street in Pomona...My folks gave Erik my paper route with the Progress Bulletin in Pomona in 1956 because they were planning to send me back to military school in San Diego, but their plans sort of fell through and I wound up attending public schools again and my folks hated me for it, but that`s a whole other story...
Here is what Karla Holm posted in the GHS forum about her brother Erik`s passing, as follows:
Erik F. Holm, Class of '62, 1944-2008
My brother Erik passed away last week on Jan 9, 2008. Some of you might remember he had lung cancer surgery back in Dec 2005 where they removed the lower lobe of one of his lungs (mentioned in the memorial thread for my other brother Mike that passed away back then.)

After the surgery, he had some serious complications, but got better and was eventually released. At the time, his girlfriend Linda was at his side day and night. He went thru chemo with flying colors...no adverse side effects...which we were ALL pleased about and in August of that year (2006) Linda became his wife.

That Autumn, Erik lost his voice. After some tests, they found that his cancer had come back. One of the tumors in his lung was on the laryngeal nerve, which had paralyzed it, making his voice just a whisper. They tried many different ways to get his voice to come back, but each time it was temporary. The tumors didn't seem to be growing, so we were all hopeful and optimistic.

When Erik and his family came up to visit us this past July, he looked great. His hip hurt him a bit, but other than that, he was doing pretty well. He fell in love with the area and had plans to move up here sometime in the next year which delighted my family like you couldn't believe. We were so excited to be able to have those old family get-togethers like we used to when we only lived about an hour or so away from them, especially since mom was now up here too.

When they got back to So. Cal, his shoulder was hurting him, so he went to the Dr and they thought that one of the tumors in his lung might be causing that pain. They decided to start him on another chemo regimine this Fall, only this time he wasn't as lucky as the first time. The effects of the chemo really took its toll and debilitated him to the point that his body couldn't fight back.

On Dec 13th or 14th, he collapsed and was taken to the hospital where he remained till his death. He became so weak that he had a machine doing his breathing for him. And in the weeks that followed, he was kept almost unconscious with the amount of pain killers he needed. In those 3-4 weeks, the cancer spread to other parts of his body and on Jan 9th the doctors took him off the respirator. By 6:47 that evening, he had passed away, surrounded by those he loved and that loved him. They all said prayers for him and one friend whose voice my sister-in-law says is "angelic", sang songs to him. I wish I could have been there. When I get sad at our plans that will never make it to fruition, I think about the way he was sent on his journey and that makes me happy for him.

Michael Holm`s 1959 Ganesha High school, Pomona, Calif. graduation photo

The Holm Family..A family of Swedish decent who were our next door neighbors on Alvarardo Street in Pomona, Calif...from left to right, in rear: the grandmother, Mrs. Holm and then Mr. Holm..In front: Chris, Erik and Mike...Photo taken around 1953...A few years later they had a baby girl named Karla...Both Mike and Erik have recently passed on...We moved from 404 W. Alvarado to 671 Elaine Street in Pomona in April, 1957, on the other side of town when I was still in junior high school in the ninth grade..
I found the following forum for Ganesha High School in Pomona on the internet where Mike Holm`s younger sister graduated in 1973, and she seems to be quite popular in this particular forum, but anyway, she posted the following about the passing of her brother Mike Holm whom I also knew as my next door neighbor in Pomona, as follows:
Michael L. Holm, Class of '59, 1940-2005
If you can believe this, I am actually going to be brief(er). I wanted to let anyone that may be interested know that my brother Mike died yesterday. He had been hospitalized since late last week in Pasadena. He had emphysema. He could breathe in but was having trouble breathing out. He had been hospitalized with lung problems a few times over the last few years and always got better so I think we all didn't take it as seriously.

My middle brother Erik just had the lower lobe of one of his lungs removed due to cancer on Monday (12/5/05) so when my mom called me, I thought the news was regarding him. I never thought it could be about Michael. I am not sure what he died of as of yet (heart attack, stroke, congestive heart failure), but I will post it when I find out.

Michael's last 35 years were very lonely ones. I think he was ready to pass on and had come to terms with it quite a few years ago. So those of us that loved him know he is in a better place and that there is now an end to his suffering, but it still is sad for those of us left behind.

...Tom Hatten with Popeye on KTLA television in the 1950`s

Skipper Frank of KTLA-TV`s Cartoon Carousel of the 1950`s

First Baptist Church on corner of Garey and Holt Avenues in Pomona, CA..It was just recently torn down..

Sunkist Theater on Garey Avenue in Pomona in 1925

Hardware Store in Pomona, Cal in the 1950`s

Automobile dealer in Pomona, Cal in the 1950s

Friday, August 18, 2006

Actor Robert Taylor...

Actor Robert Taylor (1911-1969) ..My mother went to college in Nebraska with Robert Taylor and was in the same music class with him...Robert Taylor was not the name he was born with, however...Taylor was born in Filley, Nebraska...He was buddies with Ronald Reagen and shared the same political conservative views...He snitched off actor Howard da Silva, during the McCarthy "witch-hunt" hearings during the early 50s, as being a Communist sympathizer in the movie industry------------------------

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Wednesday, July 05, 2006

ELECTROSHOCK: A CRIME AGAINST THE SPIRIT

Electro-Shock Treatment Being Administered

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Area Map For The Historical Oak Tree Located At 458 Kenoak Place in Pomona, California.....click this link for weblog #2...

This is the area map for the famous historical landmark at 458 Kenoak Place in Pomona...Which was also right down the street from our first Pomona residence at 418 Kenoak Drive and is also very near to where Terry Densley`s house was located on Kenoak Drive...Terry, of course, was my first Pomona friend when we first moved out here from the mid-west...Our street, Kenoak Drive, was also located very near to where the Pomona Fair Grounds is located, home of the Los Angeles County Fair, the largest county fair in the world--------------------------------

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Pomona Catholic Church Historic Landmark...click this link for weblog #3...

Inside view of the Pomona Catholic Church located on West Holt avenue in Pomona, California...My first Pomona friend, Terry Densley, who lived on the same street as I did, Kenoak Drive, attended this church and also the school which was located on the same property behind the church...The church also had a public swimming pool where we would go to swim as kids in Pomona...Kenoak Drive in Pomona is also a location for a famous historical landmark...It is named after a famous oak tree located near the White Avenue end of the street...The oak tree, which still has a historical name plaque on it today, was where the first settlers of the Pomona Valley area, when California was still a part of Mexico, had an adobe house (no longer there) and were blessed by the priest from the San Gabriel Mission in the late 1700s period at this oak tree...The ceremony was for having acquired the entire Pomona Valley area to be settled...Palomares was the name of one of these area settlers in that period...The stump of this oak tree is still there today...---------------------------------------------------

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Tuesday, July 04, 2006