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PLU mourns sudden loss of James Holloway

James Holloway

Dr. James Dale Holloway, 40, an assistant professor of music at PLU and university organist, was shot to death on campus May 17 by a man who wanted to kill an innocent person. That such a gentle man could be the victim of such senseless violence has added to the grief of the many whose lives he touched with his teaching and his music.

When Holloway played the organ, you could hear his passion, feel his faith. His music was his worship, his inspiration, his celebration—and it is now his legacy.

But his family, colleagues, students and church friends find some solace in the gifts he left behind: the music he recorded, the songs he wrote and lessons he taught. He was a renowned performer and eloquent speaker who had won many prestigious competitions.

“Jim was not simply gifted, he was a gift,” President Loren J. Anderson said. “When he played, we all sensed that the music came not from his hands or his head, but from his heart.”

Holloway was born July 4, 1960, in Columbus, Ga. He earned a degree in music from Shorter College in Rome, Ga., and his master’s degree from the University of North Texas. He completed his doctorate at the University of Washington.

Holloway joined PLU as a part-time instructor in 1990, when he was minister of music at Trinity Lutheran Church, and filled in during several sabbatical leaves. An enthusiastic and dedicated teacher, he was named university organist and full-time professor last fall after a national search. He reinvigorated the chapel choir, motivated students and was always looking for ways to involve more people.

Survivors include his wife, Judith Carr, dean of special academic programs at PLU, and her five children, Ben, Mark and Lauren Carr, Dulane Moran and Alexis Ashworth, and one grandson. To mark his contributions and encourage other music students, his family established the James Holloway Music Scholarship Fund at PLU.

To find out more about the James Holloway Music Scholarship Fund, and to read the address from the memorial, go to: www.plu.edu/encore.