Obituary of Joseph Donald Holbrook

Joseph Donald Holbrook was born November 15, 1936, at St. Peter’s Hospital, Charlotte, NC. He is the son of the late Orr D. Holbrook of Hart County, Georgia, and Ruth Brown Holbrook of Mooresville, NC. He attended Charlotte public schools and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1959. After serving in the US Military in Munich, Germany, he moved to New York City in 1962 where he enjoyed an almost 50-year career as a magazine circulator, primarily at McGraw-Hill for 11 years and with shorter terms of service with Direct-Marketing Magazine and Smithsonian Magazine. His last post was in the New York office of London-based magazine, The Economist, first as Fulfillment Director of North and Latin America and finally as Senior Circulation Analyst of the Americas. He retired from The Economist in 2004 after 15 years of service but continued to serve as a consultant, assisting with major circulation projects from 2004 to 2011.

Mr. Holbrook took full advantage of the arts in New York City and enjoyed memberships at the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was a founding member of The Art Deco Society of New York and was for a number of years its treasurer. He was also a member of The Municipal Arts Society of New York and the Beaux Arts Alliance.

He was a member of Hawthorne Lane Methodist Church and is survived by first cousins Elizabeth Evans of Davidson, NC, John Louis Evans of Atlanta, GA, and Bonnie Bell, of Dahlonega, GA. Burial at Evergreen Cemetery will be private.

Arrangements are under the direction of Hankins and Whittington Funeral Service, 1111 East Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28203.

Online condolences may be made at www.HankinsandWhittington.com.