Richard Clifford Holbrook

Personpeople/richard-holbrook-1902.md

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name
Richard Clifford Holbrook
sex
male
access
public
summary
Builder and diver, a Navy engineer at Pearl Harbor by 1941 who, the family remembers, dived in the harbor after the attack. A Naval Reserve captain, he commanded the 130th Seabee Battalion in the Pacific in the war, and the family credits him with the first dam on Guam. Father of Frances (Holbrook) Ellingwood; he died at Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1955.
born
date
12 Jul 1902
place
Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington
basis
documented
confidence
probable
sources
[obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
note
"A native of Tacoma, Wash." (his obituary, 1955), used over the Collins-Reed master tree's Seattle (ruling of 11 Oct 2026). The day is the master tree's; no birth record attached yet.
died
date
30 Nov 1955
place
Hot Springs, Garland County, Arkansas
basis
documented
confidence
probable
sources
[obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
note
"Died Thursday at a hospital here," under a Hot Springs dateline of Friday 2 Dec 1955, which makes it 1 Dec; 30 Nov is the Collins-Reed master tree's date. Funeral and burial were to be at Tacoma.
residences
date
1910
place
3rd Precinct, Kitsap County, Washington
basis
documented
confidence
proven
sources
[census-1910-kitsap-county-holbrook]
note
In his parents' household, as "Richard Clifford".
date
1918
place
Seattle, Washington
basis
documented
confidence
probable
sources
[directories-seattle-holbrook-1918-1926]
note
"Richd C r 560 Mercer" in the Seattle directory.
date
1930
place
San Francisco, California
basis
documented
confidence
probable
sources
[census-1930-san-francisco-holbrook]
note
Her husband, as "Richard C. Holbrook". Attached in the Ancestry tree; not checked here.
date
1940
place
Honolulu, Hawaii
basis
documented
confidence
probable
sources
[census-1940-honolulu-holbrook]
note
Associate engineer with the U.S. Navy.
date
Dec 1951
place
Shumaker, Arkansas
basis
documented
confidence
probable
sources
[obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
note
Resident officer in charge of construction at the Naval Ammunition Depot.
date
c. 1953
place
Albany, Georgia
basis
documented
confidence
probable
sources
[obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
note
Public works officer at the Marine Supply Depot.
events
what
Diving at Pearl Harbor
date
Dec 1941
place
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
note
After the attack he went down into the harbor for days at a stretch (family memory).
what
Seabees on Midway
date
c. 1942
place
Midway Atoll
note
Remembered on Midway by the family.
what
Seabees at Okinawa
date
Apr 1945
place
Okinawa, Japan
sources
[obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
note
He commanded the 130th Seabee Battalion, which went from Pearl Harbor to Saipan and laid pontoons for the Okinawa landings in April 1945.
what
Building a dam on Guam
date
1949-51
place
Base 18, Agat, Guam
note
On Guam 1949-51; the family credits him with the first dam on Guam, most likely the Navy's Fena dam, finished in 1951.
what
Shot by a patrolman
date
28 Nov 1922
place
Seattle, Washington
sources
[newspaper-seattle-star-1922-11-28]
note
A University of Washington student of twenty, carrying off a street sign on East 45th Street, shot through the lung; he recovered.
what
Home from Guam
date
Dec 1951
place
San Francisco, California
sources
[passenger-lists-holbrook-1948-1950]
note
The family came home on the General Sultan, Guam to San Francisco, bound for the Naval Ammunition Depot at Shumaker.
what
Seabees on Saipan
date
Jan 1945
place
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
sources
[obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
note
His 130th Naval Construction Battalion reached Saipan in mid-January 1945 and waited there about two months for the Okinawa landings (a battalion veteran's account, ww2combatengineers.com/community/wwii-engineers/seabee-history-wwii/paged/2/).
father
id
richard-holbrook-1872
basis
documented
confidence
proven
note
Family records; with his parents in Kitsap County in 1910. Source not yet attached.
mother
id
jessie-clifford-1876
basis
documented
confidence
proven
note
Family records; with his mother in 1910 and 1920. Source not yet attached.
spouses
id
lucille-mcmillan-1905
married
date
May 1927
place
San Jose, Santa Clara County, California
basis
compiled
confidence
probable
note
Reported 15 May 1927. Source not yet attached.
basis
inferred
confidence
proven
note
Family knowledge; ruled proven 8 Oct 2026 (research/decisions.md).

Grew up in western Washington, in Seattle and Kitsap County. He was "Richd C r 560 Mercer" in the 1918 Seattle directory, and "Richd C mariner" in 1925, when his mother was at the family house at 560 Mercer (directories).

On 28 November 1922, a University of Washington student of twenty, he was shot through the body by a Seattle patrolman who surprised him and three friends in a student lark ("Not Justified," editorial on the shooting of Dick Holbrook, Seattle Star, "Mother of Wounded Boy Felt Sure He Was Safe at School," by Dora Dean, Seattle Daily Times); he recovered.

Builder and diver. Associate engineer with the U.S. Navy, a civilian post, in the 1940 census; at Pearl Harbor by 1941. His daughter Frances remembers him going down into the harbor for days at a stretch after the attack and coming home black with soot (family memory). A Navy Seabee (construction battalion) veteran, a lieutenant by the family's account, remembered on Midway and later on Guam; on Guam 1949-51, where the Navy's Fena dam, the likeliest candidate for the "first dam on Guam" the family credits him with, was completed in 1951; left Guam in December 1951 for the Naval Ammunition Depot at Shumaker, Arkansas, where he was resident officer in charge of construction.

His obituary in the Arkansas Gazette calls him "Capt. Richard Clifford Holbrook, USNR (ret.)": he had commanded the 130th Seabee Battalion in the Pacific during the Second World War and served as public works officer at the Marine Supply Depot at Albany, Georgia. He died at a hospital at Hot Springs at the beginning of December 1955, aged 53, survived by his wife, his daughters Frances (Mrs. Richard Ellingwood of Spokane) and Harriet of Tacoma, and his brother Phillip of San Francisco; funeral and burial were to be at Tacoma (record). The Times's full report of the 1922 shooting is also in the archive ("Student at University Is Wounded by Officer," Seattle Daily Times, 28 Nov 1922).

Open questions

  • The colonial tree has him a mariner at the family house on Mercer Street in both 1925 and 1926; the directory abstract here has "Richd C mariner" in 1925 only, without an address. Check the 1926 directory.
  • His birth, death and marriage records are still to be attached; the colonial tree marks all three documented.
  • His grave at Tacoma.
  1. ---
  2. name: Richard Clifford Holbrook
  3. sex: male
  4. access: public
  5. summary: >-
  6. Builder and diver, a Navy engineer at Pearl Harbor by 1941 who, the family remembers, dived in
  7. the harbor after the attack. A Naval Reserve captain, he commanded the 130th Seabee Battalion in
  8. the Pacific in the war, and the family credits him with the first dam on Guam. Father of Frances
  9. (Holbrook) Ellingwood; he died at Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1955.
  10. born:
  11. date: 12 Jul 1902
  12. place: Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington
  13. basis: documented
  14. confidence: probable
  15. sources: [obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
  16. note: '"A native of Tacoma, Wash." (his obituary, 1955), used over the Collins-Reed master tree''s Seattle (ruling of 11 Oct 2026). The day is the master tree''s; no birth record attached yet.'
  17. died:
  18. date: 30 Nov 1955
  19. place: Hot Springs, Garland County, Arkansas
  20. basis: documented
  21. confidence: probable
  22. sources: [obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
  23. note: '"Died Thursday at a hospital here," under a Hot Springs dateline of Friday 2 Dec 1955, which makes it 1 Dec; 30 Nov is the Collins-Reed master tree''s date. Funeral and burial were to be at Tacoma.'
  24. residences:
  25. - date: "1910"
  26. place: 3rd Precinct, Kitsap County, Washington
  27. basis: documented
  28. confidence: proven
  29. sources: [census-1910-kitsap-county-holbrook]
  30. note: In his parents' household, as "Richard Clifford".
  31. - date: "1918"
  32. place: Seattle, Washington
  33. basis: documented
  34. confidence: probable
  35. sources: [directories-seattle-holbrook-1918-1926]
  36. note: "\"Richd C r 560 Mercer\" in the Seattle directory."
  37. - date: "1930"
  38. place: San Francisco, California
  39. basis: documented
  40. confidence: probable
  41. sources: [census-1930-san-francisco-holbrook]
  42. note: Her husband, as "Richard C. Holbrook". Attached in the Ancestry tree; not checked here.
  43. - date: "1940"
  44. place: Honolulu, Hawaii
  45. basis: documented
  46. confidence: probable
  47. sources: [census-1940-honolulu-holbrook]
  48. note: "Associate engineer with the U.S. Navy."
  49. - date: "Dec 1951"
  50. place: Shumaker, Arkansas
  51. basis: documented
  52. confidence: probable
  53. sources: [obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
  54. note: "Resident officer in charge of construction at the Naval Ammunition Depot."
  55. - date: "c. 1953"
  56. place: Albany, Georgia
  57. basis: documented
  58. confidence: probable
  59. sources: [obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
  60. note: "Public works officer at the Marine Supply Depot."
  61. events:
  62. - what: Diving at Pearl Harbor
  63. date: "Dec 1941"
  64. place: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
  65. note: "After the attack he went down into the harbor for days at a stretch (family memory)."
  66. - what: Seabees on Midway
  67. date: "c. 1942"
  68. place: Midway Atoll
  69. note: "Remembered on Midway by the family."
  70. - what: Seabees at Okinawa
  71. date: "Apr 1945"
  72. place: Okinawa, Japan
  73. sources: [obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
  74. note: "He commanded the 130th Seabee Battalion, which went from Pearl Harbor to Saipan and laid pontoons for the Okinawa landings in April 1945."
  75. - what: Building a dam on Guam
  76. date: "1949-51"
  77. place: Base 18, Agat, Guam
  78. note: "On Guam 1949-51; the family credits him with the first dam on Guam, most likely the Navy's Fena dam, finished in 1951."
  79. - what: Shot by a patrolman
  80. date: "28 Nov 1922"
  81. place: Seattle, Washington
  82. sources: [newspaper-seattle-star-1922-11-28]
  83. note: "A University of Washington student of twenty, carrying off a street sign on East 45th Street, shot through the lung; he recovered."
  84. - what: Home from Guam
  85. date: "Dec 1951"
  86. place: San Francisco, California
  87. sources: [passenger-lists-holbrook-1948-1950]
  88. note: "The family came home on the General Sultan, Guam to San Francisco, bound for the Naval Ammunition Depot at Shumaker."
  89. - what: Seabees on Saipan
  90. date: "Jan 1945"
  91. place: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
  92. sources: [obituary-richard-holbrook-1955]
  93. note: "His 130th Naval Construction Battalion reached Saipan in mid-January 1945 and waited there about two months for the Okinawa landings (a battalion veteran's account, ww2combatengineers.com/community/wwii-engineers/seabee-history-wwii/paged/2/)."
  94. father:
  95. id: richard-holbrook-1872
  96. basis: documented
  97. confidence: proven
  98. note: Family records; with his parents in Kitsap County in 1910. Source not yet attached.
  99. mother:
  100. id: jessie-clifford-1876
  101. basis: documented
  102. confidence: proven
  103. note: Family records; with his mother in 1910 and 1920. Source not yet attached.
  104. spouses:
  105. - id: lucille-mcmillan-1905
  106. married:
  107. date: May 1927
  108. place: San Jose, Santa Clara County, California
  109. basis: compiled
  110. confidence: probable
  111. note: Reported 15 May 1927. Source not yet attached.
  112. basis: inferred
  113. confidence: proven
  114. note: 'Family knowledge; ruled proven 8 Oct 2026 (research/decisions.md).'
  115. ---
  117. Grew up in western Washington, in Seattle and Kitsap County. He was "Richd C r 560
  118. Mercer" in the 1918 Seattle directory, and "Richd C mariner" in 1925, when his mother was at the
  119. family house at 560 Mercer ([directories](/files/sources/directories-seattle-holbrook-1918-1926/)).
  121. On 28 November 1922, a University of Washington student of twenty, he was shot through the
  122. body by a Seattle patrolman who surprised him and three friends in a student lark
  123. (`newspaper-seattle-star-1922-11-28`, `newspaper-seattle-times-1922-11-28`); he recovered.
  125. Builder and diver. Associate engineer with the U.S. Navy, a civilian post, in the 1940
  126. census; at Pearl Harbor by 1941. His daughter Frances remembers him going down into the
  127. harbor for days at a stretch after the attack and coming home black with soot (family
  128. memory). A Navy Seabee (construction battalion) veteran, a lieutenant by the family's
  129. account, remembered on Midway and later on Guam; on Guam 1949-51, where the Navy's Fena dam,
  130. the likeliest candidate for the "first dam on Guam" the family credits him with, was
  131. completed in 1951; left Guam in December 1951 for the Naval Ammunition Depot at Shumaker,
  132. Arkansas, where he was resident officer in charge of construction.
  134. His obituary in the *Arkansas Gazette* calls him "Capt. Richard Clifford Holbrook, USNR (ret.)":
  135. he had commanded the 130th Seabee Battalion in the Pacific during the Second World War and served
  136. as public works officer at the Marine Supply Depot at Albany, Georgia. He died at a hospital at Hot
  137. Springs at the beginning of December 1955, aged 53, survived by his wife, his daughters Frances
  138. (Mrs. Richard Ellingwood of Spokane) and Harriet of Tacoma, and his brother Phillip of San
  139. Francisco; funeral and burial were to be at Tacoma
  140. ([record](/files/sources/obituary-richard-holbrook-1955/)). The *Times*'s full report of the 1922
  141. shooting is also in the archive (`newspaper-seattle-times-1922-11-28-student-wounded`).
  143. ## Open questions
  145. - The colonial tree has him a mariner at the family house on Mercer Street in both 1925 and
  146. 1926; the directory abstract here has "Richd C mariner" in 1925 only, without an address. Check
  147. the 1926 directory.
  148. - His birth, death and marriage records are still to be attached; the colonial tree marks all
  149. three documented.
  150. - His grave at Tacoma.
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