Tony was born in Meridian, Mississippi on December 9, 1940, to Mary Louise and James E. Holt. He was educated at St. Aloysius Catholic School and Meridian High School. Upon graduation, he completed two years at Meridian Junior College.
Tony was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, John Arthur Holt.
He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Martina Ward Holt; his daughters, Margery Lynn Hartley (Ken) of Tuscaloosa, Elizabeth Michele Holt-Shannon (Mark) of Dover, N.H., and Virginia Holt Offer (Tom) of Atlanta, Ga.; his son, Martin Anthony Holt (Alison) of Tuscaloosa; his 10 grandchildren, Sara Elizabeth Hartley, Noa Grace Holt-Shannon, Blake Ward Hartley, Olivia Ann Holt-Shannon, Stella Elizabeth Holt, Augustus Finley Holt, Charles McGowan Offer, Ann Louise Holt, Sullivan Francis Offer, and Louis Martin Holt; his brothers, William E. Holt (Midy) of Tuscaloosa and Newell Lee Holt (Ruth) of Sanford, Fla.; his sister-in-law, Jean Holt of Birmingham; and a multitude of family and wonderful friends.
Tony worked for 26 years as a Computer Videotape Editor at the Center for Public Television at the University of Alabama. There he edited many documentaries and musical productions. He and his associates received multiple awards through the years for their work. He also developed an interest in recording devices and equipment that led to his retirement job as a consultant for churches and schools in need of equipment and advice. His favorite recording job was with the Sucarnochee Revue, a public radio program produced by Jacky Jack White, recorded in Livingston, Ala. and at the Temple Theater in Meridian, Miss. He also recorded the show when Mississippi Public Radio produced a series of Sucarnochee Revue performances for public television.
Tony was an avid musician who taught himself to play drums at the age of 14 and spent the next 50 years playing music with various groups, among them his high school group, The Jokers; Ron Smith, a jazz pianist in Tuscaloosa during the sixties; South, another local band during the seventies, including good friend Joe Terry; and various groupings with well-known Tuscaloosa musicians Carol Hennessey, Dave Brown, Jerome Hopkins, and George Winter. Tony also enjoyed a family tradition of playing drums with the band at many of his nieces' and nephews' weddings. Most recently, he played every Monday night for fun with a group of local musicians and had been teaching himself to play the guitar for about two years.
A Funeral Mass and a celebration of his life will be 12 noon Saturday, March 23, 2013, at St. Francis Catholic Church, 811 5th Ave., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, with Tuscaloosa Memorial Chapel Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. The family will receive visitors beginning at 11 a.m. at the church.
Honorary pallbearers are members of Tony's high school band The Jokers: Jimmy Lewis, Louis Bailey, Charles Bailey, Sonny Roth, Denny Powers, and Jimmy May.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Catholic Social Services of West Alabama, 608 James Harrison Jr. Parkway, Tuscaloosa, AL 35405.
Published in Tuscaloosa News on March 22, 2013
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O
God our Father, Creator of all the living,
we entrust to
Your gentle careall those we love who have gone before us;
and have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Eternal rest, grant unto Tony, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May the souls of the faithful departed
through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.
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