Rest in Peace

Taft Patrick Holloway

March 17, 1954 - November 15, 2020

Taft Patrick Holloway, 66, of North Granby, Connecticut and Portland, Maine, a man described by a close friend as "impossible not to like and impossible not to respect," died suddenly and too soon on Sunday, November 15th. Patrick, as he was known to all, passed away at Hartford Hospital in the arms of his beloved wife, partner and forever soulmate, Joanne Sacher, as he would have wished. Born in Canadian, Texas to Taft and Helen Holloway, Patrick and his family moved, at an early age, to Amarillo Texas. There, he attended local schools and graduated from Tascosa High School, where he excelled at pole-vaulting and other track and field events. Patrick postponed college to explore and experience the world beyond his hometown. Over the next decade, his myriad and diverse jobs dramatically underscored his sense of adventure. He worked in the Texas oil fields, constructed amusement park rides and toured the country on the carnival circuit, eventually moving to California where he worked as an heir locator, recovering assets and delivering them to their rightful owners. In 1995, Patrick began the next phase of his life. After graduating from the University of Redlands, he embarked on a distinguished 20-year career in information technology. He retired, after years of success and achievement, from CIGNA Healthcare in 2015. Throughout his life, but particularly in retirement, Patrick's extraordinary skills and passions surfaced to light. A man of great self-reliance and resourcefulness, Patrick was a self-taught carpenter (with help from Don Morgan), plumber, electrician, and landscaper. He combined all of these skills to transform his North Granby residence into an original, singular work of art. He was also an accomplished and self-taught violinist, keyboardist, composer, photographer and quilter. There was genius in his hands. Patrick also enjoyed the fine, exquisite details of everyday life: a well-made fire, a well- turned molding and certainly, a well-prepared meal. In fact, in addition to Joanne, Patrick's other lifelong love affair was with good food. He took pleasure and pride in finding the freshest ingredients, the best coffee, the brightest flavors and then using them to cook and share meals with family and close friends. He was literally famous for his homemade apple pies, which he made unfailingly for the holidays every year. This week, the world lost a rare and special person. A true creative spirit. A man of great modesty and immense good will. The truest of friend and partner. We will miss his soft, Texas-tinged voice which always offered comfort and a sense of sincere caring. We will miss his direct and affectionate gaze. We will miss his endless acts of kindness and his gracious soul. In addition to his wife and best friend Joanne, Patrick leaves behind his brothers and their wives, Ralph and Darlene Holloway of Green Mountain Falls, CO, Doug Holloway and Stacy Nakell of Elgin, TX, his sister, Helen Jean Pettiet of Elgin, TX and his sister and her husband, Rachel and Joe Whisenhunt of Roseburg, OR along with many loving nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and a multitude of friends. There will be no funeral service. Memorial donations may be made to Hartford Hospital, in honor of all the nurses, especially Colleen, Jean and Mary, true angels of mercy, to whom the family's gratitude is boundless or The Nature Conservancy, in support of transforming nature's futures.

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Published in Hartford Courant on Nov. 18, 2020.

To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.

Published in Hartford Courant on Nov. 18, 2020.