Winfield Lloyd Holden Junior
TEMPE – Winfield Lloyd Holden Junior passed away on June 7, 2022, five weeks prior to his 96th birthday. He was in the care of Hospice of the Valley at Friendship Village in Tempe. Known to family and friends as Bompa, he was born in Detroit to Winfield Senior and Margaret Holden and was the youngest of three children. He was his parents’ first and only son.
Win was an excellent student throughout his elementary and high school years and proudly played cornet in both the Redford High and Michigan State College (now University) Marching bands. This led to a lifelong love of music, especially big band music which he relished listening to, either on recordings or attending in-person concerts.
In high school, Win developed an interest in radio and theater, but he focused mainly on music and academics. He met his future wife Alyce Marshall in high school, graduated early from Redford with honors at age 16 and enrolled at Michigan State that summer, just after turning 17.
In August 1947, following service in the US Navy near the end of World War II, he married Alyce and graduated from Michigan State. The family expanded over the next decade with the births of son Win III, followed by Jeffrey and Elizabeth. Win’s career began in the advertising agency business in Detroit at McCann-Erickson and then J. Walter Thompson. In 1956, Thompson transferred the young executive to their Chicago office where he worked on Sears paint and hardware and his favorite client, 7-Up, participating in the team that coined “The Uncola.”
Northbrook was the family’s home for decades and Win and Alyce were active in many local activities at the Village Church and several other civic organizations. Win became a local celebrity because for over 20 years he played the National Anthem on his cornet to open Northbrook’s Little League season.
In 1976, Win purchased a partnership in a small advertising agency in Honolulu, Hawaii and he and Alyce moved to paradise. After 7 years there, they moved to California and eventually to Arizona. The couple moved from Ahwatukee to Friendship Village in 2008 where they made many friends and spent countless hours as volunteers in Kiwanis, Banner Desert Hospital and Banner Children’s at Desert. Win’s final volunteer role was as President of the Friendship Village Health Care Center Resident’s Council, serving, literally, until the day he died. His rich and vibrant life was a striking example of servant leadership and he provided support, guidance and counsel to countless family members, friends and colleagues.
Win was predeceased by his sisters Marjorie (Austin) Schwager and Jane (John) Bertelsen, his wife Alyce and son Jeffrey (Carol). He is survived by son Winfield III (Carolyn), daughter Elizabeth Kelly (Tim), grandchildren Christopher (Melanie), Allison and Emily Holden, Jessica Fleming (Mike), Corinne Miller (Matt), Jennifer Kelly, Lisa Denny (Derek) and great grandchildren Noelle and Zane Holden, Aria and Everly Denny, Logan Miller and Kane and Ivy Fleming.
The family wishes to extend sincere thanks to Win’s exceptional physician Dr. Steven Burns, the attentive team at the Friendship Village Care Center, Hospice of the Valley and Tempe Mortuary for their compassionate care and assistance. A memorial service will be held at Friendship Village Tempe later this year. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests donations in remembrance of Win Holden, to Banner Children’s at Desert c/o Banner Health Foundation, to Hospice of the Valley or to your favorite charity.