Obituary of Walt Holman - Buzz Buszek Award winner

Walt Holman. January 8, 1930 ? March 22, 2015 - It is with sadness that I inform you of the passing of 2013 FFF Buzz Buszek Award winner and three time FFF-SEC Fly Tier of the Year, Walter Leslie Holman, Jr., age 85, of Madison, Alabama passed away on March 22, 2015 at his home in Madison, surrounded by family and friends.

Walt enjoyed playing the guitar and painting, but his life-long passion was fly fishing and fly tying. In September 2013, in West Yellowstone, MT, he was awarded the ?Buz Buszek Memorial Award?, the most prestigious award the International Federation of Fly Fishers (IFFF) bestows upon an individual. His fly plate containing a sampling of his creations is on display in the IFFF museum in Livingston, MT. His retirement years were filled by numerous appearances at fly fishing exhibitions across the United States demonstrating his fly tying techniques. He was featured in numerous fly fishing magazine articles.

He was in our local FFF Chapter and was a great contributor to our club with his flies in our local auctions. I have the honor of having some of his poppers from our raffles and he taught me a lot about making poppers. He was a great man and will be missed.

Knucks

WALTER LESLIE HOLMAN, JR.


Walter Leslie Holman, Jr., age 85, of Madison, Alabama passed away on March 22, 2015 at his home in Madison, AL, surrounded by family and friends. He was born in Natalbany, LA on January 8, 1930 but most of his earlier years were spent in Bogalusa, LA and Mobile, AL. He is survived by his beloved wife of 22 years, Gennie Nowlin Holman, who is known and loved by so many of us.


Walt was a 1950 graduate of University Military School in Mobile, AL. After serving in the U. S. Navy in Japan from 1950 to 1954, he attended Auburn University pursuing a degree in electrical engineering. He successfully wrote the State of Alabama Professional Engineering examination and worked as an electrical engineer for the Ballistic Missile Defense organizations at Redstone Arsenal until his retirement in 1990. During this time he spent a two year tour at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands where he is remembered for his recording of his “Kwajalein Peculiar” songs.


Walt enjoyed playing the guitar and painting, but his life-long passion was fly fishing and fly tying. In September 2013, in West Yellowstone, MT, he was awarded the “Buz Buszek Memorial Award”, the most prestigious award the International Federation of Fly Fishers (IFFF) bestows upon an individual. His fly plate containing a sampling of his creations is on display in the IFFF museum in Livingston, MT.
Walt Holman was three time FFF-SEC Fly Tier of the Year. His retirement years were filled by numerous appearances at fly fishing exhibitions across the United States demonstrating his fly tying techniques. He was featured in numerous fly fishing magazine articles.


Many fly tiers, including myself, have been blessed to sit at Walt’s table and learn to tie foil covered poppers from the inventor of this unique and beautiful tying technique. Walt was a living fly tying master, legend and true gentleman who represented the very best of service, ingenuity, giving, sharing and fly tying art in the IFFF and IFFF-Southeastern and Southern and Gulf Coast Councils. Walt was a great man of huge impact to all of us who were blessed to associate, fish and tie flies with him. More than that, Walt was a was a gentleman in every aspect of the title and a very loving person and a very dear friend to so many tyers, club members and members of the Federation. Walt’s funeral was held in Madison, Alabama on Wednesday.