Joan Vort Holman, 92, of Richmond, VT, died March 12, 2024. Wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, we called her Wam. She was near and dear to our hearts. To the very last day she was a true fashionista, always dressed and accessorized to the nines. Joan grew up in Great Neck, NY, attended Great Neck High School and Smith College. Joan had a beautiful soprano singing voice, sang at many weddings, and even sang with Perry Como. Her family were members of Glen Oaks Golf Club in Lake Success, NY, where she met her future husband and love of her life, Gary Holman. The two were married on August 30,1952, at Temple Sinai in Great Neck, NY. Two days later, they drove to California for Gary to attend UCLA Law School. The automobile trip was, in effect, their honeymoon.
After a year in the sun, Joan and Gary returned home to New York where Gary finished law school at night at NYU. In 1955, the Holmans started their family with the birth of their daughter, Lori, and their son Andy in 1957. An avid skiing family, they purchased a ski house on the mountain at Sugarbush, in Warren, Vermont, in 1966.
Joan was a volunteer at North Shore Hospital for many years, sending birthday cards and buying for the gift shop. In 1983, Joan and Andy went into business together when they bought the White Mountain Ski Shop in Great Neck, NY.
Following the advice of a neighbor in Roslyn, Joan and Gary decided to leave Long Island and move to Vermont full time in 2008, to be near their children and grandchildren. They found the perfect house in Richmond, VT, with the help of their son-in-law, Rick Klein. The house is a perfect showcase for Joan’s impeccable style and taste. She was so happy to be surrounded by her family (although she did miss her New York friends and culture, the Philharmonic Symphony, Broadway, and shopping. She called it a “Bloomingdale’s State of Mind”).
After many wonderful years in Richmond, during which Gary and Joan spent time with family, friends and neighbors, Joan died unexpectedly after many years of a healthy, happy life.
Joan is survived by her loving husband, Gary, daughter Lori Holman Klein, son Andrew Keith Holman, granddaughters Alixandra Barron Klein, Devin Klein Corrigan, and Amanda Blair Holman, their husbands, grandson Zachary David Holman, great-grandson, Rhys Corrigan, and three step-grandchildren.
Joan will be remembered for many things – her style, her movie star smile, and most of all, the love and generosity she showed to all whom she loved.
Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Smith College Class of 1953.
