John C. Holt, father of former Hunterdon County Commissioner Matthew Holt and son-in-law of former All-American Clifford P. Case, died Dec. 18. He was 91 years old.
A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Holt served as a councilman in the city of Roway and later in Clinton Township. He also served on the Royal Board in three New Jersey municipalities: Rahway, Clinton Township and Clinton.
Holt married Ann Case in 1957. Her father was a Rahway councilman from 1938 to 1942, an assemblyman from 1943 to 1945, a congressman from 1945 to 1953, and a US senator from 1955 to 1979. While Clifford Case grew up in Poughkeepsie (c the second most famous A New Jersey politician who grew up there), his family has long been involved in New Jersey politics. His uncle, Clarence Case, represented Somerset County in the state senate, served as president of the senate, and was a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court for 23 years. His great-grandfather, Peter Case, was a Somerset County Court crier in the 1850s.
Holt’s son served as a county commissioner from 2006 until his resignation earlier this year and also served as a Clinton councilman and mayor.
He is also survived by two daughters, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
