Jack Holmer

John Frederick Holmer passed away peacefully with both daughters by his side on September 18th, 2025. He is home now with his Lord and Savior and his wife Betty.

John, affectionately known as Jack, was born on January 8th, 1934, in Plymouth Village, MN in his parent’s bed, which he commonly joked, “I wanted to be close to my mother”. Jack was the youngest sibling born to John Edward Holmer and Julia Margarite Petersen. He had 7 siblings: Dorthea, Mabel, Florence, Eleanor, Gladys, Edward, and Patricia.

Jack grew up on a farm in Hennepin County where they had lots of chickens, milked many cows, sheep, and maintained a large orchard. As a child, Jack was active in 4-H, loved baseball and was always following along to do chores with his mother. He loved to sing songs while milking the cows with his brother Bud. He was always very intelligent and advanced in his schooling. In his early childhood years, he got his first guitar, and his love of music grew. As a teen, Jack and his father would take in wild horses from Montana and break them for farm use. For fun, he and his friend would ride into town to sing at the root beer stand. Through music, he sang his way into the heart of the homecoming queen.

Jack Holmer and Betty Kottke were married on February 16th, 1954, at a small church wedding. With very little time spent at their reception, the two left in the packed car with $400 and their instruments to sing their way through South Dakota together. The first years of their marriage, music brought them many places and allowed them to meet many famous musicians who they would play backup for.

In November of 1960, Jack and Betty welcomed their first daughter Patrice. After the birth of their daughter, they decided to put down roots and moved to the Grasston area in 1961. Jack took up welding and worked as a welder for many years. During this time, they continued to play music in the Twin Cities. In October of 1963, they welcomed their second daughter Laura. During the girls’ childhood, Jack was a 4-H leader, took care of the farm, and was greatly involved with not only his daughters but also the neighborhood kids.

In 1975, Jack and Betty began to make trips to Canada to play music, bringing the girls along for the ride. By 1977, JB Sound was formed and they played music locally. In 1981, Laura Jennelle and the JB Sound was formed, and they traveled to Canada to play.

Jack retired from welding in his sixties, and he and Betty spent their retired years helping to homeschool the grandchildren, continued to enjoy playing music with their children and grandchildren and were very involved in the surrounding churches. In 2014, his wife Betty passed away unexpectedly. In the last few years, Jack was ready to be reunited with his love.

He is preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, his father and mother, all his siblings, and many other family members. He is survived by his daughter Patrice (John) DeGray, daughter Laura (Tom) Martin, Chris (Ashley) DeGray, Bobby (Sandy) DeGray, Gerald (Janaye) DeGray, Becky DeGray (Nick), Rachel DeGray, Sarah (Dan) Grunwald, Angela DeGray, Eric (Ashley) Martin, Julie (Brett) Anderson, Amanda (Christian) Cummings and sixteen great-grandchildren.

Pastor Matt Urspringer will officiate funeral services for Jack: 11:00 AM Saturday (9/27); at Henriette Free Methodist Church in Grasston.  Jack's visitation and reviewal will be from 5-8:00 PM; Friday evening (9/26) at Swanson Funeral Chapel.  A reviewal is also planned for one hour prior to the service at the church. A lunch will immediately follow the service with the interment in the Royalton Cemetery in Royalton township at 2 PM Saturday. 

Per Jack's wishes, memorials in his memory may be directed to: Henriette Free Methodist Church.

Funeral arrangements for Jack Holmer are entrusted to the: Funeral and Cremation Service of Pine City, Swanson Chapel 

www.FuneralAndCremationService.com