Norman D. Holthouse
Nov 2, 1937 -
Feb 27, 2024
In July 1978, Norman D. Holthouse, a 41-year-old computer programmer, mathematician and semi-professional card player, traded his Lincoln Continental for a Ford Bronco, took his seven-year-old son to see Star Wars for the ninth time, for both of them, then hit the road cross-country and up the Alcan Highway to Anchorage, Alaska, where a new job as Executive Director of Technology for the Anchorage School District awaited.
Norman lived the rest of his life in Anchorage, where he died on Feb. 27, 2024, of heart failure, peacefully, with his wife of 65 years, Rita, by his side. He was 86 years old.
His son David, a writer and documentary filmmaker, was on assignment in Ukraine, a war zone with closed airspace. Unable to fly home or get a clear phone line, David recorded memories and expressions of love that were played to Norman before he lost consciousness.
Here's one:
"It's around midnight, summer solstice, 1995. Russian River campground. I'm 24. You're 58. We've limited out with three reds each at 'Armpit Hollow,' then hiked back up the bluff, where the fireside gin and tonics are perfect, just like the freshly caught wild salmon, baked in the coals with lemon and a sprinkle of dill. We toast to lives worth living."
Norman grew up poor in small town Kansas. He was a star high school basketball player, dubbed "Hotbox Holthouse" by sportswriters, for his unstoppable hook shot. He attended Emporia State University on a full-ride athletic scholarship. There, he fell in love with a beautiful - and whip smart - co-ed named Rita Howell.
They eloped, and were married by a Justice of the Peace in Oklahoma in July 1959. They celebrated with chocolate milkshakes.
After graduating from ESU, Norm and Rita were public school teachers for a few years - in math and English, respectively - before relocating to Kano, Nigeria, in 1965, as part of a U.S. State Department program to develop a university in the West African nation.
By this time a highly skilled poker and bridge player, Norman more than once returned home at dawn after playing cards with American and British expats to throw cash in the air over Rita, then in her late 20s.
Upon leaving Africa, Rita and Norman entered graduate school at Ohio University. In summer 1970, they spent a night celebrating their Ph.D. graduations, and approximately nine months later, their son was born.
For the next seven years, Norman worked developing computer technology for the public school district, in Norfolk, Va., while Rita worked as a school counselor and administrator.
In summer 1978, the oil-rich government of Alaska offered them both jobs in Anchorage, along with the prospect of funding for Norman to more fully realize his vision for the use of computers in public education.
When Norman arrived in Anchorage 46 years ago, there was not a single computer in any school. Three years later, every school in the city had at least one Apple IIe "microcomputer," as they were then called, for students and teachers to use. This placed Anchorage at the leading edge nationwide of utilizing computers in public education.
That same year - 1981 - Norman co-founded and was the first president of the Alaska Association for Computers in Education, now the Alaska Society for Technology in Education. The group was launched with just 14 members.
A decade later, Norman delivered the keynote address to a ballroom crowd at the Hotel Captain Cook on the occasion of the organization's 10th anniversary.
"When we began, we didn't have laser printers, monitors or hard drives," he said. "We did have a lot of enthusiasm, dedication and hope for the future. We were proud to be the rungs on the ladder than others would follow. We had a vision 10 years ago that computers in education were not a passing fad, but an exciting and evolving technology that had the potential to impact education in a manner exceeding the totality of all previous technologies."
Norman retired in 2001. Afterward, he and Rita traveled to the Cook Islands, Costa Rica, and the Priblof Islands, among other destinations. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2009 with a two-week trip to Grand Teton National Park with their son and daughter-in-law, Priscilla Hensley.
Beyond the occasional card counting blackjack expedition to Las Vegas - the pit bosses can't ban him now, can they? - Norman stopped playing cards for money after moving to Alaska, but remained an avid and expert contract bridge player right up to his death. A longtime member of the Anchorage Bridge Club, he obtained the ranking of Emerald Life Master with the American Contract Bridge League.
His favorite song was "The Eagle and the Hawk" by John Denver. His favorite books were Dune and To Kill a Mockingbird. His favorite movies were Shane, Hoosiers, Jeremiah Johnson, Blade Runner, Escape From New York, any Clint Eastwood western and all three of the first trilogy Star Wars films - he was adamant to the end that "Han shot first."
Norman is survived by his wife, Rita; son, David; sister, LoRrie Coffman and nephew, Mattson Coffman; daughter-in-law, Priscilla Hensley; and two grandchildren.
By his request, there is no public service. He followed no organized religion, but half-jokingly named Obi-Wan Kenobi his guru.
So let it be said of Norman D. Holthouse: May the Force be with him. Always.
