More Than a Name on a Park: Remembering Jack Holloway

He built a business, mentored generations of young men, helped his neighbors and made sure there was always room for one more at the Christmas table. As Justin prepares to dedicate Jack Holloway Park, we’re remembering the man behind the name.

If you’ve lived in Justin for a while, you know that every corner seems to have a story. Some involve old businesses, some involve familiar family names, and some involve people who helped make this little town what it is today.

Jack Allen Holloway was one of those people.

Long before Justin’s neighborhoods stretched farther and the list of restaurants and grocery stores grew, Jack was busy building a life, running his businesses, raising a family and helping people along the way. He was a farmer, rancher, businessman, mentor, husband, father and, by all accounts, someone who believed there was always room for one more.

As the city prepares to dedicate Jack Holloway Park, formerly City Hall Park, we thought it was a good time to get to know the man behind the name.

Much of what we’re sharing comes from a conversation with Jack’s wife, Susie Holloway, on January 6, 2025. Through her memories of their life together, the family business and the Justin community they called home, we get a glimpse of both the town as it once was and the man who helped shape it. We’re grateful to Susie for taking the time to share these stories and help preserve a piece of Justin’s history.

From Drop to the fields of Colorado

Jack was born October 13, 1938, in the small Denton County community of Drop, Texas, to Clarence Wesley “CW” and Lila Mae Holloway. He grew up working on the family farm, milking cows and learning early that a day’s work was a day’s work.

Eventually, he established his own agricultural operations, including Holloway Harvesting and Holloway Cattle Co.

Jack and Susie met in 1974 while he was working in the Spearman area of the Texas Panhandle. Susie grew up in Spearman, where her parents owned a restaurant. She spent much of her childhood in the family business and worked there until she was 18.

After the two married, Susie quickly learned that life with a custom harvesting business meant there wasn’t much sitting around!

During harvest season, the family traveled extensively, including trips to Colorado. At one point, they had as many as 15 workers on the crew. Susie was responsible for feeding everyone breakfast and lunch, taking meals out to the fields and making sure sandwiches were ready for later. And you can bet dessert was part of the deal.

Sometimes the family maintained two houses while traveling, with Jack and Susie staying in one and the boys in another.

It was hard work, long days and plenty of moving parts, but it was also a family operation in every sense of the word.

Around 2000, Jack began stepping away from the harvesting work, and their son took over the operation.

But perhaps the most important part of that business wasn’t the equipment, the fields or the number of acres harvested. It was the young men who came through the doors.

Welcome to Jack’s University

Over the years, dozens of young men worked for Jack. Some were just 14 or 15 years old when they started. Their mothers would bring them to the shop, and Jack would take them along to work.

For many, it was their first real introduction to responsibility, earning a paycheck and learning what it meant to work hard.

More than 40 young men came through the operation over the years. The group even earned a nickname for the time they spent together at Denton Cowboy Church: “Jack’s University.”

No tuition, no textbooks and definitely no graduation ceremony, but plenty of real-life lessons.

Jack believed in giving young people a chance, including some who needed a little extra direction. Susie remembers that he would take boys who were having a difficult time and keep a close eye on them. He expected them to work, take responsibility and understand the difference between right and wrong.

He didn’t give up on them.

Many of those young men grew into hardworking adults, and the relationships they built with Jack and the Holloway family lasted long after their harvesting days ended.

When Jack passed away in December 2021, Susie was amazed by how many came to honor him. Former employees and young men who had once traveled with the crew returned to remember someone who had played an important role in their lives.

That’s quite a classroom legacy.

A much smaller Justin

When Susie first became part of the Justin community, things looked a little different around here.

There were only a handful of places to shop or grab something to eat. Williams Drive-In was a familiar stop, and the grocery store was where people went for just about everything.

One local favorite was the “Gilmer Dog,” essentially a hot dog from Williams that had earned its own hometown name. You didn’t need a menu with 15 different toppings. You knew what you were getting!

There was a bank with a cafe, a post office along Main Street, a lumber yard and several businesses connected to the farming and ranching community.

Most places closed around 6 p.m., with Williams staying open until 9. If you wanted a Coke after that, you were probably making a trip to the vending machine.

Getting mail while the family was away harvesting was easy, too. Susie remembers calling the post office and asking them to send their mail to Colorado. No complicated process. People knew one another.

And the kids? They had a little more freedom than many parents would imagine today.

Susie remembers her children riding their bikes around town at night without her worrying about where they were. If someone got into trouble, chances were good that their parents would hear about it before the child even made it home.

School and community life were closely connected, too. Susie was involved with the PTA, and the family was active in the lives of local children. Birthday parties included the entire class because they didn’t want anyone left out.

When the kids wanted to play basketball, Jack and Susie helped them get into the gym to shoot baskets in the evenings. The children showed livestock, too, and families helped one another with barns and space for calves and pigs.

It was a time when neighbors were part of everyday life, and the Holloways were right in the middle of it.

The man behind the welding shop

Jack was also known around town for his welding work.

He purchased an older shop in 1968, before he and Susie married, and later built the green shop next door. His work wasn’t limited to private customers, either. Susie remembers Jack making beds for the city’s dump trucks in his welding shop.

It was simply another way he helped out.

His work and business connections were woven into the local community. Jack knew people all over town, and people knew Jack. He was the kind of person others could count on when something needed to be done.

Susie remembers an incident involving a fire near the railroad tracks. After someone spoke harshly to her, Jack went back, opened the truck door and made it clear that he wasn’t going to let anyone talk to his wife that way.

His philosophy was straightforward: right is right and wrong is wrong.

That was Jack.

Christmas Eve always had room for one more

Some of Susie’s favorite memories have nothing to do with harvesting, cattle or welding. They’re about the people who came through their front door.

Christmas Eve was especially important to Jack. What started as a gathering for their immediate family eventually grew into a much larger celebration.

Jack might run into someone at the cafe and ask what they were doing for Christmas. If they didn’t have anywhere to go, he invited them to the house.

Over time, the gathering grew to around 29 people. They would set up tables in the garage to make room for everyone.

And Jack wanted to make sure each person received a gift. The family even had caps made for guests.

It was important to him that nobody felt forgotten or left out.

That same spirit carried into other parts of family life. The Holloways welcomed neighborhood kids, helped with school activities and made room for young people who needed somewhere to go.

It wasn’t something Jack did for recognition. It was simply how he lived.

Justin has changed, but home is still home

Susie has watched Justin change through the years, and while she appreciates some of the conveniences that have come with growth, she admits she misses the smaller-town feel.

There are more grocery choices now, more restaurants and more places to go. She remembers when getting a Sonic was a big deal and when the choices for eating out were pretty limited.

Today, she appreciates having places like Joe’s and local pizza options close by.

But she also remembers the full-service gas stations, the Harvest Inn, the Slab, the little softball field where everyone gathered and the steady line of cars heading out of town on Friday nights for football games.

She remembers hearing the volunteer fire department siren and knowing something was happening. She remembers waving at nearly every car that passed and knowing the people behind the steering wheels.

Growth has brought plenty of changes, but she wishes the roads had kept pace.

Still, when asked whether she would trade Justin for somewhere else, her answer is no.

She enjoys keeping her grandchildren, walking to the park twice a day and being part of the community. She says neighbors and local leaders look out for her, and she still feels that familiar sense of connection.

Justin may not be the same little town it once was, but home is still home.

A name worth remembering

Jack Holloway passed away in December 2021, but the stories about him continue.

They live on in the young men who learned the value of hard work beside him, the neighbors he helped, the families who shared a holiday table and the people who remember him as someone they could count on.

His legacy isn’t measured only by the businesses he built or the years he spent working in agriculture. It’s also measured by the lives he touched along the way.

As Justin continues to grow, taking time to recognize the people who helped shape the community is one way to keep its history alive.

And now, a familiar place in town will carry Jack’s name.

Join us for the dedication of Jack Holloway Park!

Please join your friends and neighbors for a special moment in our hometown as we gather for the renaming and dedication of Jack Holloway Park, formerly City Hall Park.

Tuesday, November 10, 2026
4:30 p.m.
415 N. College Avenue, Justin, Texas

The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. Come together with friends and neighbors to honor Mr. Holloway and celebrate a place where our community can continue making memories for years to come.

Because some people leave behind more than a business, a building or a name. They leave behind a community of people whose lives are better because they were part of it.

And that is a legacy worth remembering.